


Through a Glass, Darkly

by WhatABummer



Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-24
Updated: 2017-11-08
Packaged: 2018-08-10 18:41:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 23
Words: 64,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7856713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhatABummer/pseuds/WhatABummer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two years after the movie, Nick wakes up to find himself in the original, bleak version of Zootopia. At the same time the Nick from the dystopia wakes to find himself in a Zootopia free of collars.</p>
<p>"I see heads." / "And I see tails." / "It's all a matter of perspective" / "The same coin." / "A different perspective." / "Heads." / "Tails." / "Dead." / "Alive." - R. Lutece.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. It Could Have Been

" _For all sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest are these, 'It might have been' "_

_\- John Greenleaf Whittier_

* * *

 

Nick couldn't remember the last time he woke up with a headache this bad.

Well actually he could - but since it involved a con gone majorly wrong, and the subsequent chase through the dark alleys of downtown in the middle of the night had left him beaten senseless against a dumpster, he had decided to forget about the whole sordid affair and not make the same mistakes again.

But here he was, curled into a fetal position in the dirt moaning quietly to himself and clutching his head. He guessed some things would never change.

In-between the jackhammer thumps of pain throbbing in his temples, Nick tried to get his bearings: He was lying prone in the dirt, the ground cool against the side of his muzzle. Judging from the faint sounds of traffic, he had to be on the edge of town somewhere. It was too warm to be Tundratown, too cold to be Sahara Square, and it didn't seem to be raining so he had to be -

His thoughts were shattered by a ten foot wave of pain crashing against the inside of his skull.

Nick groaned as the tide receded. This was worse than when Hopps had a couple too many shots at karaoke last week and bleated out a heartfelt – and woefully off-key - rendition of " _Don't Stop Believing_ " at the top of her lungs. He hadn't had the heart to try and stop her, it was just too adorable. That, and he knew that the recording of the rabbit's impassioned performance he managed to snag on her carrot pen would make for a great bargaining chip with the bunny. If nothing else, he could tease her mercilessly!

Speaking of his partner …

"Carrots?"

His voice was hoarse and raspy. The question sounded more like the rasping choke of the engine in Finnick's van than an attempt at speech.

_Well, at least I sound as bad as I feel_ , he thought. After a moment, he tried again:

"Ya' there Hopps?"

_Better_ , he thought, _a lot less like a lawn mower that time._

When there was no response from his partner, Nick frowned. He knew that if Judy wasn't here, she'd be out looking for him. She's probably furious! He pictured Hopps tearing through town with that classic determined frown on her face. When she found him (which he knew was only a matter of time) he was in for quite the lecture. Still, he thought, it'll be worth it just to see that cute face she makes when she's worried about him.

He noted with some relief that the hurricane in his head had been downgraded to a tropical storm. I guess ZNN won't be sending Antlerson Cooper to report after all, he noted wryly.

He cracked open one of his eyes and regretted it immediately. Foxes were by nature nocturnal creatures, which meant Nick already had a tepid relationship with the sun. The blinding light of the early morning did not do his aching head any favors.

_Too fast, Nick._ He chided himself.

Clutching his head, Nick struggled to his paws. He took note that, while it felt as though he had been hit by a train, nothing appeared to be broken. Glancing around through bleary eyes, Nick instantly recognized his surroundings. He was under the cobblestone bridge where Judy had found him at the end of the missing mammal case.

"… _you were right all along. I really am just a dumb bunny."_

Nick Wilde was a realist. He knew that every animal was an asshole deep down. Some - like him - were just better at hiding it. So when a naïve hick from the burrows had pulled a fast one and managed to out-hustle Nicholas P. Wilde, he had been determined to expose the cracks in the rabbit's façade of optimism. Nobody was perfect.

He thought he found them at Vine and Tujunga. Really, he shouldn't have been shocked to see Judy wilt under the stern gaze of the one ton buffalo looming over her. But for some reason he was. Even more surprising was the "Uh … no!" that leapt - seemingly unbidden - from his mouth after the hulking bovine had demanded her badge a second time.

By the time the fox and rabbit had boarded a skycar bound for city central, Nick had realized that for the first time in years he actually cared. He wanted Hopps to be right, wanted her trust in him to mean something.

And he wanted her to understand.

" _I - Nicholas Wilde - promise to be brave, loyal, helpful, and trustworthy!"_

He had been elated when her first reaction was to console him, but his survival instincts kicked in and he brushed her off. Never let them see that they get to you.

The two of them would quickly turn their attention back to the case at hand, but Nick swore he felt lighter stepping off the skycar than he had getting on.

Later, as he watched Judy climb up to the top of a podium to speak to the assembled press, Nick was on cloud nine. They had solved the case, and she had asked him to be her partner. He'd never thought he'd ever have the chance or desire to be a cop, but after the way Judy had asked him …

Maybe he finally had a chance to fulfill the promise he made as a kit.

But that which goes up:

" _But … it may have something to do with biology."_

… must come down.

" _For whatever reason, they're reverting back to their primitive, savage ways."_

It had hurt, a lot more than he would ever admit. He had finally found the cracks in her façade, just like he did with everyone. He cursed himself for being so foolish and trusting, and vowed to never make the same mistake again.

After two weeks of nursing his anger, Nick was loathe to hear Judy's voice calling his name at the top of the bridge. He had spent days wallowing in self-pity, fantasizing about the perfect sarcastic comeback that would shame the dumb rabbit. He never got a chance to spit out the venom he'd prepared.

Because she apologized, and Nick was surprised to find that was enough.

He was tired of keeping his guard up. Even though he knew it was stupid and he could get hurt, he decided to trust her.

* * *

The aftershocks of his headache brought Nick back into the present.

Boy, when did I get so sentimental? He wondered and began to rub at his temples.

Nick turned his attention to trying to remember how he got here in the first place. The last thing he remembered was waving goodbye to Judy after she dropped him off at his apartment, watching her drive off at the end of the day. He had turned to go into his apartment building and then …

He couldn't recall.

This worried him, since he normally had at least a vague inclination of what led to him waking up in the dirt … it usually involved blueberry schnapps.

"And why would I end up back here?" he wondered out loud.

When no answer was forthcoming, Nick sighed and fished his phone out of his pocket. He really ought to let Judy know that he was okay. Plus she might have some idea how he got here.

Nick scrolled through his phone to his contacts. His favorites list had maybe half a dozen numbers. Nick didn't need to scroll; he tapped the first contact ("Carrots"), brought his phone to his ear with one hand, and idly shoved his other hand into his pocket where it stumbled upon Judy's famous carrot pen.

Well there's a silver lining, he thought. If he had done something stupid, she couldn't have recorded it!

A familiar voice answered the line:

"Lieutenant Judy Hopps, ZPD. What can I do for you?"

Oh good, he thought, she doesn't sound too upset.

"Hey Carrots! Looks like I had a rough night last night … any idea what I was up to? I just woke up in … "

"I'm sorry, who is this?"

"You wound me fluff. What, did you lose my number? Get a new phone or something?" he teased.

"Sir, is something wrong? Do you need to report a crime? A predator attack?" She sounded strangely weary.

"A predator attack? Seriously? The only crime around here is that my partner thinks she's being funny. Seriously Carrots, you need to lay off … "

"Sir! You're going to want to refrain from calling me 'Carrots'!" Judy snapped suddenly.

Nick furrowed his brow in confusion, his mind racing. She hadn't been bothered by his nickname since they first met. Had she always been that annoyed by it?

"Hopps are you … "

"That's Lieutenant Hopps." He heard her say through clenched teeth.

This is not good, Nick thought.

"Listen, is this about something I did last night? Honestly, I have no idea what happened! I just woke up under that bridge and …"

"Wait a minute, you're that jerkass fox I ticketed! You are aware that harassing an officer is a punishable offense right? How did you get this number anyway?" Judy was very agitated.

"Hopps … you gave it to me." Nick said softly. Did she not remember?

"I don't think so, pal. Now unless you actually have something to report, we're done here."

"Judy wait, what's the matter …"

The line went dead.

Nick stared at his phone in stunned silence.

"OK, what the hell was that?" he asked after a moment.

* * *

"Everything alright Hopps?"

Judy looked up from her phone to the towering figure of Chief Bogo who wore an uncustomary look of concern on his face.

"Oh, uh ... yeah! That was just some wacko who thought he knew me or something." She said with some forced cheer. "Probably still drunk from last night and thought it would be funny to prank call an officer."

Bogo raised an eyebrow at her, scrutinizing her for a moment before putting on his reading glasses and turning his attention back to the stack of reports and papers in his hands.

"Whatever, Hopps. I only care if it's going to cause problems."

"No Sir! No problems here!" Judy said overenthusiastically.

"Good." The chief grunted. "How long have you been with us now, Hopps?" he asked a moment later, still looking over the files in his hands.

"Almost two years sir!" Judy said, unable to hold back a wide grin.

The chief seemed to consider this for a moment, before pulling out a case file from the stack of papers in his arms. Without looking the buffalo placed it in front of Judy.

Judy could barely contain herself. She was about to thank the chief profusely when she saw him hold up his hoof.

"Relax Hopps, this isn't a big one. I need you to look into some tips we've been getting about suspicious deliveries to a warehouse at the docks. And before you get too excited, nothing illegal just suspicious."

"What kind of deliveries?" Judy inquired, nose twitching in excitement.

"Building materials, food and drink, and strangely enough party supplies."

Judy frowned. Party supplies … really?

"Do we know who owns the warehouse?"

"The warehouse building and nearby clinic are registered to a fox by the name of Wilde."

Wilde? Wasn't that the name of the fox she ticketed? The one that just called her?

Judy must have made a face, because the chief fixed her with a look.

"That's not going to be a problem, is it Officer Hopps?"

"What? Oh, no sir!"

"Hmm" the chief rumbled. "Head down to the docks and take a closer look at the warehouse. If you see anything untoward, radio it in and we'll dispatch some officers to assist. No heroics, you understand?"

"Completely sir!"

Judy straightened herself up and gave the chief a smart salute before bolting out of the room.

Chief Bogo shook his head and sighed as he watched the bunny dart out of the room. That one was a handful, he thought. Still they needed every officer they could get. The ZPD was woefully understaffed and had been for years. It was all they could do to keep any semblance of order in the city, let alone try to do anything proactive. They couldn't even spare an officer to manage the front desk! God knows he could use a good secretary.

Not like the old days, the chief mused. No, not like the old times at all. Though, back then they never would have hired a bunny, even one as exceptional as Judy Hopps.

Bogo would never say it to her face, but the bunny had managed to impress him. On her first day he assigned her parking duty to get her out of his fur, and she somehow managed to rack up nearly 300 tickets. Nobody was able to come close to that before or since. Her work ethic was outstanding, and she'd earned a promotion to lieutenant in record time. Despite his reticence to put her in more dangerous situations Bogo found himself unable to justify squandering her talents.

What bothered Bogo was watching how the thankless work had started to get to the rabbit. At the start she had been so enthusiastic, optimistic and full of energy. But there was a limit to how many times you could be confronted by the harsh reality of life as an officer and not have your outlook tarnished. This recent spate of predator attacks wasn't helping anyone maintain an optimistic outlook, that was for sure. Her innocence was slowly but steadily being replaced with the cynicism and jaded detachment that was the hallmark of an officer of the ZPD. And as it had with all of his officers, it pained the chief to watch.

Not like the old days, he mused. She could have kept her innocence and optimism - if not forever - for a great deal longer then.

He was reminded of the closing couplet to a poem that captivated him as a calf:

" _So dawn goes down to day._

_Nothing gold can stay."_

The sun came down, harsh and hot, on Zootopia years ago and it wasn't pretty. He just hoped that Hopps wasn't the last flash of gold on the horizon at sunset. Bogo knew that Zootopia wouldn't survive the night.

* * *

Nick was on his fifth draft of a text message to Judy when he heard a familiar voice boom from the top of the bridge.

"What the hell are you doing Wilde?"

Nick looked up from his phone to see a sandy furred fennec fox standing at the top of the bridge fixing him with a very angry scowl. As always the Finnick was wearing a black polo shirt with red stripes down his sides. Strangely, he also seemed to be wearing something around his neck … some kind of collar?

Well now, I should have figured he'd be into that, Nick thought. A wide grin found its way onto the fox's face.

"Finnick? You're about the last person I expected to see." Nick said.

Finnick's scowl deepened. "Yeah, real cute Nick. Where've you been? We were supposed to start this job an hour ago."

Nick glanced at the time on his phone: 9:04 am. The fennec was right rollcall was at 8:00.

"Well Fin, guess I had a rough night. Just woke up here a few minutes ago …"

Finnick continued to glare as he scampered down from the top of the bridge.

"And what do you mean 'we'?" Nick continued. "Did you join the force while I wasn't looking? I mean I'm touched, big guy. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery …" Nick fixed the smaller fox with his trademark smirk.

"The hell is wrong with you? A fox in the ZPD? You hit your head or somethin'?"

Nick frowned, scratched at the back of his head and said, "Sure feels like it. You have any idea what I was up to last night? I have no idea how I got here."

"What do I look like? Your mommy?" Finnick snorted derisively. "Now get your head on straight and let's go already."

"Love to pal, but I'm already in hot water with my partner. I need to get down to the precinct and … What're you looking at?"

Looking back at the smaller fox, Nick noticed that Finnick's scowl had turned to a look of surprise.

Nick looked himself over. His standard green Hawaiian print shirt and purple tie were dusty and wrinkled, but that was hardly surprising all things considered. So what was the fennec staring at?

"Nick … Where's your collar?"

My what? Nick wondered.

"You know what - forget it, I understand." The fennec's voice had lost any trace of anger.

"Understand what? What collar? Fin, what are you talking about?"

Nick was already unsettled by the bizarre phone call with Judy, and this wasn't helping. The creeping sensation of dread that had earlier curled into his belly began to squirm and claw its way into Nick's chest.

"No I get it, its fine. You just wanted a night without the damn thing." The fennec continued. "But Nick, you're going to jeopardize the whole operation! We're too close to do stupid things like that."

Nick wasn't sure what worried him more: the fact that Finnick seemed to be trying to rope him into another con or the uncharacteristic look of sympathy on the fennec's face.

Nick furrowed his brow in irritation. "Finnick, I have no idea what you're talking about and frankly the less I know the better. You know I don't do 'operations' anymore."

The fennec's face flickered between confusion and a scowl, a neon sign in need of replacement, before settling on the latter.

"Oh really? Look at Mr. High and Mighty over here!" Finnick swept his arms wide before giving Nick a sarcastic bow.

"Seriously though, Nick. Whatever you want to call your little theme park, we've got a lot of work to do before we open tonight. You need to pull yourself together."

"My what? Did you say theme park?"

What on Earth? The only theme park he could think of was …

Nick momentarily glanced past the fennec to the ramshackle warehouse down the road behind him.

"Wait, you can't be talking about that. It's just a crazy idea I had as a kid!"

Finnick scoffed. "Crazy doesn't do it justice. Now are you done being stupid? Koslov's collectors are going to be around tonight and if we don't have his cash both of us are dead."

Koslov? That didn't make any sense. He'd already squared his debts with Mr. Big, all thanks to Judy.

"Finnick, I'll have you know Mr. Big and I squared away that little … misunderstanding!" Nick protested. "And even before that I'd never be desperate enough to turn to him for money! Too many strings."

Confusion worked its way onto the fennec's features. "Big? The shrew? Damn Nick, you must have hit your head good! You WERE desperate, kid. Honey and I warned you not to go to Koslov, but did you listen to us? No! Hell, you even roped us in somehow."

Was Honey one of Finnick's squeezes? The fox prided himself on knowing everybody in Zootopia, but even he found it hard to keep up with the fennec's wild love life.

"Ok, whatever." Nick said as he brought a paw to massage his aching forehead. He didn't have time to sort this out.

"As much fun as I'm having with … whatever this is, I'm a busy mammal. The streets don't 'Protect and Serve' themselves after all. So why don't you give me a lift to the precinct and we'll sort the rest out later, huh?"

Finnick cocked his head to the side dumbfounded. "Are you TRYING to get arrested? You want to walk into jackboot central without a collar? They'll tear you apart!"

"What is with you and collars today? Why the hell are you wearing that thing anyway?"

Finnick snarled. "Oh gee, I dunno Nick. I really like how it brings out my eyes. What the hell kind of question is that?"

The fennec's scowl disappeared and he said, "Seriously Nick, you're starting to worry me. You're dense, but you're not THIS dense. You feeling alright?"

Again, Nick was surprised at fennec's expression of concern. Finnick was one of Nick's only real friends (a category that until recently the fennec was alone in), but they never voiced concern for one another. Years of making ends meet on the streets had taught them that sentiment was a weakness that larger or more vicious animals would pounce on if exposed. This wasn't like Finnick. Nick thought he should be touched, but for some reason he felt his temper flare.

"Alright, that's it I'm done. I want off the crazy train." Nick growled, throwing his hands up into the air. "Did Hopps put you up to this? Is this revenge? Throwing me under a bridge and making me think I've gone nuts?"

Nick's thoughts were becoming increasingly frantic. Nick looked around desperately. "Alright guys, real funny. Ha. Ha. You really had me going there …"

When Judy didn't jump out of hiding to laugh at him for being so gullible, Nick felt his heart race and his headache returned with a vengeance. Something was terribly wrong. A sudden thought worried him: Is this what going insane is like?

Nick began to seriously consider throwing up.

After a moment, he decided he would.

"Kid, you need to lay off whatever you're trippin' on." Finnick said and put a comforting paw on Nick's shoulder as the larger fox emptied his stomach.

"Listen, Nick I dunno what's wrong with you but let's get you to the clinic, ok?" The fennec offered.

Nick was in no position to argue, so he just nodded and tried to will the throbbing in his head to stop.

This was turning out to be a really bad day.


	2. But For the Grace of God

" _There, but for the grace of God, go I."_

_\- John Bradford_

* * *

 

The fox was not happy when his dreams receded and he began to wake up. He was sure that waking up was just the first mistake he was going to make today.

Yet another GLORIUS day in Zootopia, he thought to himself as he mentally rolled his eyes. Truly, he was blessed.

Grumbling to himself, the fox grabbed the corner of his blanket and rolled onto his side, the mattress underneath him groaning as he did.

He began to try to summon the effort to get up. Today was going to be a big day, but one that he wasn't at all certain wouldn't end with him strapped to a conveyer belt in a certain polar bear's fishery. Still, he'd worked his tail off to get all the pieces in place, and if everything went to plan then things might finally start to look up!

Who am I kidding? The fox thought.

He rolled back onto his back (the mattress squeaked out in annoyance), his paw reaching up to scratch at the collar around his neck. Even after decades of wearing it, he still couldn't quite get used to the feel of it; too tight in some places, bulky and awkward in others, perpetually itchy, and always in the back of the fox's mind.

He hated it, though that was far from a novel opinion. They all did.

Not because of the discomfort, and not even because of the demeaning sting it dispensed whenever his emotions ran too hot.

He hated it for what it said about him: He was a monster to be controlled, a slave to be pacified, and a wretch worthy of pity.

The fox rolled over again, and was suddenly aware of the creaking of the mattress.

I don't have a mattress, he thought.

The fox bolted upright, eyes flying open as he frantically looked about his surroundings.

He was in a small bedroom, light from the morning sun just beginning to filter its way through a set of blinds on the far wall. The stripes of sun illuminated the messy and sparsely decorated room. A few peeling movie posters covered one wall (Savage Seas! The Island of Dr. Meow!), and the doors to a closet were open. Clothes littered the floor, and a couple of gaudy Hawaiian shirts were hanging haphazardly over a small chair in the corner. A digital alarm clock on the night stand displayed 9:08 am in a radioactive green.

Failing to see any immediate danger, the fox leapt to his feet and looked himself over. He was still wearing his clothes from the day before: a white collared shirt rolled at the sleeves, a black tie hanging loosely about his neck, and a pair of charcoal slacks. He glanced around and shortly found his matching suit jacket that had been draped over him before he scrambled to his feet.

Well, I've got better dress sense then whatever animal lives here! The fox thought to himself. Who wears Hawaiian shirts anyway?

Okay, I need to focus … where am I, and how did I get here? The fox asked himself.

The fox sniffed the air about him as he made his way to the bedroom door. Definitely the apartment of another fox, he concluded. It smelled almost identical to his place, just not quite as wet.

Who'd this guy bribe to get a halfway decent place like this? The fox wondered.

A subtle smell drew his attention. It was like freshly tilled soil - rich and earthy - with a faint undercurrent of carrots and … blueberries?

It couldn't be a … Yes. It was faint, but he could definitely smell a rabbit. What in the world would a rabbit have been doing at a fox's apartment?

The fox stealthily drew up against the bedroom door, putting his right ear flush against it. After listening to the faint ticking of a clock and the soft hum of an AC unit (lucky bastard) on the other side of the door, the fox decided to open the door and take a peek.

The bedroom opened onto a modest living area: the apartment door, an overstuffed couch, coffee table and TV at one end, and a counter, sink, oven, small dining table, and refrigerator at the other. In the dim light the fox could make out a stack of dirty dishes in the sink, a hastily thrown shirt (navy blue this time) hanging off the end of the couch, and a small collection of framed pictures on a mantle above the TV. On the other wall a door to what was presumably another bedroom was closed.

And most importantly there was nobody there. The last thing the fox needed was to have a breaking and entering charge levied against him. He doubted "Honest, I just woke up here!" would fly with the ZPD. Not that they needed a reason to throw cuffs on a predator (let alone a fox) like him.

The fox decided that the best course of action would be to make a hasty exit. He began to creep through the living area towards the apartment door. With a bit of luck, nobody would notice!

Not solely the bane of members of the genus _felidae_ , curiosity got the better of the fox. As he crept past the photos on the mantle above the TV he couldn't help but look.

The first picture was a selfie of a fox and a rabbit, both grinning at the camera. It's the kind of picture he might have taken with a close friend. Heck the other fox even looked a bit like him. No, the fox corrected himself, a lot like him. He could easily pass for the fox's brother, or maybe even a body double.

So, that's the schmuck who wears Hawaiian shirts, the fox thought to himself.

He studied the picture closely for a minute and noticed several things that he couldn't explain: First, the rabbit appeared to be wearing a ZPD officer's uniform. What kind of officer –let alone a rabbit - would take a selfie with a fox? Did the ZPD even have another rabbit officer? The fox was pretty sure that besides the lieutenant, the only rabbits on the force worked dispatch.

But what really threw him was that the fox in the picture wasn't wearing a collar. There was no way this picture was old enough to predate the collars. Selfies certainly weren't a thing back then.

The fur on the back of the fox's neck prickled and stood on end. Unnerved, he returned the picture to the mantle and turned to leave. But before he moved to leave, another picture that stood at the end of the mantle immediately drew the fox's attention.

It was an impossible picture.

It was a portrait of a vixen and her young kit, who looked to be around 8 or 9 years old. The kit was wearing a Ranger Scout's uniform, a big toothy grin spread across his muzzle. The kit's mother stood behind wearing a simple purple blouse, her arms resting tenderly on her son's shoulders. The vixen's smile was not as wide as her son's, but radiated warmth and compassion, but with a subtle cast of weariness that bespoke many years of hardship.

It was a smile that the fox thought he would only ever see again in his happiest dreams.

"Mom?" the fox gasped.

* * *

It hadn't taken long for Finnick and Nick to get close to the clinic, it was just a short walk down the road that wound its way from a dilapidated warehouse on the docks across the cobblestone bridge to a nearby thoroughfare.

As the two foxes walked, Nick glanced behind himself at the warehouse. He'd had come into ownership of the building a few years back after a good run at cards. The structure itself was solid, if a bit rough. He'd always thought it had potential but hadn't had time or resources to do anything with it. When he joined the force, Nick realized that he'd be unlikely to find either time or resources in the near future. He had been considering trying to sell the place but the market wasn't in his favor. So for now it sat empty and disused.

Looking ahead, Nick didn't recognize the clinic at the end of the road. Maybe someone had built it while he was at the academy? It seemed a very strange place for a vet's office. How many clients wanted to head down to the docks for treatment?

Nick's headache had receded to a dull twinge, and the fox attempted to engage his dusty furred companion in conversation.

"So level with me Finnick. Fox to fox. Why are you wearing that collar?"

The fennec glared and gave a curt growl. "Cause it's the law, dumbass."

"Really … it's the law? Pretty sure I would have heard about that. Did the fashion police have a coup or something?" Nick joked.

The fennec rolled his eyes and grumbled, "Not in the mood, Wilde."

Rebuffed, Nick put his hands into his pockets and didn't try to make any more small talk. The pair made their way to the front of the clinic, and the fennec began to pull open one of the glass doors. It always surprised Nick at how strong the fennec had to be for his size. Nick grabbed the door with a paw and helped the fennec open the door.

A rush of cool air greeted the two foxes as they entered the clinic's waiting room. Nick wrinkled his nose at the sterile smell of plastic and latex. The dozen or so chairs in the room were empty and there was nobody behind the counter. A door to a room behind the counter was ajar and Nick could hear some music playing from inside. He could just make out the lyrics:

" _And I'm on tonight you know my hips don't lie_

_And I'm starting to feel it's right_

_All the attraction, the tension_

_Don't you see baby, this is perfection"_

Finnick marched up to the counter, scampered up a nearby stool and stood leaning over the edge.

"Hey furball! Get your fat ass out here! This operation ain't gonna work if you're messing around in there."

The music stopped suddenly.

"Oh sorry! The radio was playing Gazelle, and I thought I had more time before we opened … " a familiar voice called out sunnily.

Nick shook his head and rubbed his eyes. No way could it be him, the fox was just hearing things.

The unmistakable form of Benjamin Clawhauser carrying a half-eaten box of donuts walked out of the back room.

Nevermind, thought Nick.

"Nick, Finnick! Hey guys! How's it going?" the portly cheetah said smiling, and glanced at a clock on the wall. "I thought you were going to go pull the pawpsicle hustle."

Instead of his normal blue ZPD uniform, Clawhauser was dressed in a green polo shirt and jeans and had a pair of thick-rimmed glasses on. And just like Finnick the cheetah had a collar around his neck that seemed to have been fastened just a bit too-tight, his neck bulging slightly around it.

As Nick stared dumbfounded, Finnick groused. "Well we WOULD be, if Nick here hadn't gotten strung out on something last night. Dumbass is crashing hard."

"Oh Nick, that's terrible!" The cheetah's round face was full of sympathy. He lowered his voice to a whisper that did nothing to make it hard for Nick to hear and leaned over to the fennec. "He looks like he's been through the ringer, Finnick. But, where's his collar?"

"Hell if I know." The fennec scoffed. "I don't know what's wrong with him, but he's been acting really weird. Weirder than normal. Lost his lunch on the way here. Go get Honey, she'll sort him out."

"Ok, sure ..." The cheetah started to reach for an intercom on the counter before quickly glancing at Nick. "Uh, Finnick … Why is he staring at me like that" The cheetah again whispered loudly.

Finnick turned to look at Nick, who was staring at Clawhauser mouth agape.

The two predator's gazes prompted Nick to close his mouth.

"Spots? Why aren't you down at the precinct? Nick asked slowly.

"The precinct? Like a police precinct?" The cheetah asked in confusion before suddenly jumping in shock.

"O. M. Goodness! Does someone want to arrest me? What did I do?" The cheetah grabbed his tail and brought it and his hands to cover his mouth.

"N-No, Clawhauser you're fine. I think. I mean, I didn't know you were taking the day off."

"Day off? From what?"

"From running the front desk, what the hell else?"

Clawhauser looked around the room, and then back at Nick.

"Um … isn't that what I'm doing?"

"No at the station!" Nick groaned and held a paw against his forehead.

"The hell Nick? First you're a cop and now he's one too? Knock it off already, I'm not laughing." The fennec growled angrily before turning to the cheetah. "See what I mean? Weird. Now go get Honey."

* * *

The fox wasn't really sure how long he'd been running. Long enough to put several blocks between him and that … place.

He sure hadn't felt like he was dreaming, but he couldn't think of any other explanation for that picture. Panic had set in, and he had bolted out of the apartment like a bat out of hell … or in this case a fox out of a nightmare. He had been terrified, consumed by a deep primal fear.

He was surprised his collar hadn't gone off. Maybe it had. He wouldn't have noticed.

His lungs burning and his breath short, the fox at last came to a stop at the edge of an alley that led away from one of the many side streets the branched off Sahara Square. He leaned against one of the brick walls and tried to catch his breath.

The fox tried to gather his thoughts and calm himself down. His heart was racing, so he forced himself to take long deep breaths until the beat had slowed to a brisk moderato.

As the adrenaline began to wear off, the fox considered what he'd seen. Sure the vixen in that picture _seemed_ to have his mother's smile, but that was impossible. She had died before his fourth birthday. Rationally, he knew there was no way it was her. He'd just made a mistake and freaked himself out.

But try as he might, he couldn't shake the feeling that somehow it was her.

The fox felt his pulse quicken again, and growled. He mentally shoved the feeling down. It wasn't rational nor helpful.

"Are you alright, son?"

The fox jumped, and quickly turned around to see a middle-aged wolf standing with a brown paper bag full of groceries. The wolf's sleek black coat had begun to gray and lighten about his muzzle, which wore a look of concern.

"You looked a bit panicked there, sprinting down the street. Is everything OK?" The wolf asked again.

The fox found his voice. "Uh … Yeah, I just saw someone I wasn't expecting to see."

The hint of a grin tugged at the wolf's muzzle. "Landlord? Jealous Ex?"

The fox couldn't help but smile at that and said, "Something like that."

The wolf was looking intently at the fox. "Listen it's probably not my place to say anything, but if you're in more … serious trouble, I might be able to help."

The fox's looked dubiously at the wolf. Nothing was freely given on the streets; this wolf was angling for something.

"I used to be a detective with the ZPD. Retired now." The larger canine continued. "The only mammals I've seen run like that, were the ones we were chasing." The wolf held up a paw. "Not that I'm sayin' you're running from the cops or anything."

The wolf narrowed his gaze. "Just sayin' it looks like you're being chased."

Great, the fox thought. Of all the wannabe good Samaritans in the city, the fox had to end up with a crazy one. A wolf on the ZPD? Laughable. They'd sooner hire a rabbit!

His mind's eye turned back to the selfie he'd seen earlier, a rabbit in uniform and an eerily similar fox. What the hell is going on today? The fox wondered. It's like he'd fallen into an episode of the Twilight Zone or something!

The wolf cleared his throat. "Son, you there?"

"Oh sorry, still trying catching my breath." The fox gave his best smile to the wolf. "And thank you for the offer, but I doubt all of the ZPD could stop the missus from tanning my hide. I may have, uh … forgotten it was our anniversary today."

The fox gave his best sheepish smile. Now to see if the wolf bought it.

The wolf cocked an eyebrow.

Shit, he's not buying it.

And finally the wolf began to laugh heartily. "God have mercy on you, you poor devil."

"Well, I don't know if He could stop her either … Hell hath no fury like a vixen scorned!"

The wolf chuckled at that, and the fox pressed his luck. "Say, you wouldn't happen to know where I can find a florist around here?"

Still smiling the wolf answered, "Actually yes! There's a shop just around the block there that's run by a good friend of mine. The old otter's been married for years, so he'll understand your predicament!"

"Oh thank you so much sir!" The fox said and started heading down the street towards where the wolf indicated.

"Oh and tell him Mike says hi, would you?" The wolf called out as the fox hurried off.

"Sure thing sir!" The fox called out before rounded the corner.

What a sucker! The fox thought.

* * *

Captain Michael Fangmeyer (retired) watched the fox disappear and frowned. Years of experience had told him that the fox's story was bullshit even before his detective's skills at observation kicked in.

First off, the fox hadn't been wearing a wedding ring nor did he have the groove around his finger that accompanied years of wearing one.

Second, nobody runs in abject terror like that from someone they've married. Not even in the most strained marriage. The wolf wasn't lying when he told the fox that he looked harried.

He hated to stereotype – especially considering who made up half of the ZPD's premier duo – but that fox was in some serious trouble. And whatever it was, the fox was terrified for his life.

The wolf reached into his pocket and pulled out an older flip-phone. His pups had been trying to get him to switch to a smartphone, but Mike hadn't seen a need. His old Muttorola Razor worked well enough for what he needed it for. And right now, he needed to make a call.

"Chief Bogo. Make it quick." Came a gruff voice on the other end.

"Hey Bozo, it's your old partner."

"Mike! You know I don't chat on duty, so you must be calling about something else."

"Still going straight to brass tacks, huh? Guess that's why you're the chief. But you're right, I just saw something that got my hackles raised."

"Hold on …" The wolf could just almost see the chief putting his glasses on and reaching for a pen and pad. "Alright there, go ahead."

The former detective detailed his encounter with the fox as the chief scribbled notes on the other end.

"What do you think he's up to?" The buffalo asked after his old partner finished.

"I couldn't tell you … but I'll be damned if I'm not itching to find out."

The buffalo gave a small chuckle. "You know, we could haul your old desk out of storage if you're that desperate to get back in."

"Nah, the pups would never forgive me. Besides, the city couldn't pay me enough to have to deal with you again on a regular basis."

"Still an ass, I see." The chief replied, a hint of mirth in his voice. "I'll have some uniforms look into this. Thanks for the tip."

"Least I can do. How's my nephew? As bad as I was?" The wolf asked.

"Worse, especially now that he's trying to out-prank Wilde."

"A prank war with a fox? Definitely as dumb as me." The wolf laughed. "Well, try not to break my nephew too badly. My sister-in-law will kill me."

"No promises. Thanks for the call Mike."

The wolf went to hang up, but at the last minute added.

"Bogo, there's one other thing."

"Yes?"

"Remember the Cliffside case? You know, with the crazy leopard?"

Bogo remembered it well. They'd cornered the feline in the old Cliffside asylum and were trying to subdue him when the leopard had snapped and seemed to go completely insane. Feral.

The leopard had leapt at the buffalo, all claws and fangs. He still had the scars. It would have been much worse if Mike hadn't body-slammed the leopard into a wall and held him down, giving Bogo enough time to nail him with a tranquilizer. Bogo never forgot his partner's bravery. It had been the moment when their partnership had really solidified. The two had been as close as brothers since.

Recently he'd been reminded of the case after Officer Hopps had discovered that Lionheart was keeping the missing mammals at the asylum. Especially once they found the mammals had gone - like the leopard before them - savage. Cliffside was a bad place, and at the time the chief had wondered if it was the locale that had driven the missing mammals insane.

"Of course." The chief replied.

"Do you remember the collar that the leopard had? One of those barbaric shock collars the whitecoats used to use on loonies before they were finally banned?"

The chief shuddered involuntarily from the memory.

"Yes."

"Well, I'm pretty damn sure the fox was wearing one."


	3. I'm Not Myself, You See

_'Who are_ _**you** _ _?' said the Caterpillar._

_This was not an encouraging opening for a conversation. Alice replied, rather shyly, 'I — I hardly know, sir, just at present — at least I know who I WAS when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then.'_

_'What do you mean by that?' said the Caterpillar sternly. 'Explain yourself!'_

_'I can't explain_ _**myself** _ _, I'm afraid, sir' said Alice, 'because I'm not myself, you see.'_

_\- Lewis Carrol, Alice in Wonderland_

* * *

Honey was not what Nick was expecting.

He'd imagined a sultry leopardess or a slim arctic fox vixen … something in keeping with Finnick's usual preferences.

Nick definitely hadn't imagined a badger sporting a white Mohawk and wearing dogtags on a chain over a camo-print tank top and cargo pants combo. And just like Clawhauser and Finnick, she too had one of the strange collars around her neck.

The badger was looking sternly at Nick and jotting down notes on a clipboard as Finnick explained to her how he found the red fox while Nick looked her over. He noticed that her fur was disheveled and matted in places. This jumped out at him. He knew he'd seen her before, but her fur wasn't unkempt like this. Now if he could only remember where ...

Nick's mouth opened before his sense kicked in. "Not the usual apparel for a Doctor. Are we headed into combat later?"

The badger rolled her eyes. "Can't be that messed up if you're still that sarcastic. Come on, let's get a look at you."

The badger walked through a door on the wall beside the counter and turned down a hallway that Nick guessed led towards examination rooms. Much like the waiting room outside, the hallway was littered with the same kind of antiseptic, sterile decorating sense that one finds in hospitals and clinics. The walls were painted an off white and displayed posters diagramming the various parts and functions of mammal's bodies.

She led him into an examination room and gestured to the examination table at the center. "Sit down. Let me just get my kit." Honey said as she left the room.

Nick followed the badger's direction and idly glanced at the banal décor of the waiting room. His headache had receded once again, but he still felt nauseous and unsettled. Hopefully this badger was better at actually being a doctor than looking like one.

A small picture frame on the wall close to the table caught the fox's attention by virtue of being the only non-medical piece of decoration he'd seen so far. He paused to look at it, and had to re-read the framed paper several times to be sure he'd parsed it correctly.

**ZOOTOPIA TRAFFIC VIOLATION**

**Ticket 008234923523**

**Last Name:** Wilde **First Name:** Nicholas **Initial:** P

 **Species:** Fox **Fur/Skin:** Red **Eyes:** Green

 **Street Address:** 1955 Cypress Grove Lane

 **Infraction(s):** Speeding\Driving without due care and attention

 **Arresting Officer:** Judy Hopps

 **Date of Violation:** 3/4/2016

 **NOTICE TO VIOLATOR** : See Reverse Side For Instructions

At the bottom of the ticket was the unforgettable signature of Judy Hopps, and a doodle of a smug looking rabbit.

After rubbing his eyes and verifying that the writing on the framed ticket still conveyed that the ticket had been issued to him (by Hopps no less!), Nick reached out to grab the frame convinced that he was hallucinating.

He was holding the frame in his hands, admiring how life like and convincing the vision was when the badger came back into the examination room. She was now wearing a white coat over her camo top.

"Nick, I've got a lot of things to do today, OK? **We've** got a lot of things to do. Put that down so I can figure out what fool thing you got into."

Nick gestured to the frame in his hands and asked. "What is this? Some kind of joke?"

Honey scoffed at that and said, "The whole SYSTEM is a joke Nick. Parking tickets and citations like that are just the fuzz's way of targeting predators and other undesirables for the benefit of the state. I mean, do you ever see SHEEP getting tickets? I don't think so!"

Nick blinked owlishly at Honey.

"Besides …" She continued, "We all thought that bunny was cute for trying to play cop."

Nick wasn't fully conscious of the growl that he issued. "You watch your mouth, stripepelt! She's the best officer on the force."

Honey was startled by the ferocity in the fox's tone. She flinched back, holding her clipboard in front of her and Nick suddenly remembered where he'd seen her before.

Cliffside. She was the one who was helping Lionheart.

Honey raised an eyebrow and blinked.

"Alrighty. Irritable much? We've already got one grouchy fox, Nick. We don't need two."

The badger approached Nick as he set the frame aside and she began taking his blood pressure and pulse.

"So Finnick thinks you're coming down off something. Any truth to that?"

"Not a chance, Doc. I never touch anything harder than booze."

"Sure. Not intentionally, anyway."

"What? Are you saying I was drugged?" The fox had to admit, that would explain some things.

Honey sighed and gave him a weary look.

"Nick, why do you think I always boil everything? There's all kinds of things the government could do to drug you if they wanted to."

The badger absently jotted down a few notes on the clipboard before reaching for the stethoscope around her neck.

"I mean, once they find out about the Times - deep breath, Nick - I fully expect a visit from some ZPD goons. And exhale."

The badger made a few more notes on the clipboard.

"Hmm, probably not _Aconitine_. At least not solely … But that's neither here nor there."

She turned to face the fox. "I'm more worried about why you have no memory of last night, and you're missing your collar."

"Again with the collars. Why is everyone going on about the collars today?"

Honey looked at Nick sadly. "It's not just today, hun."

Nick felt his stomach sink. "What do you mean?"

* * *

As proud of his exceptional hearing as he was, Finnick could find it incredibly trying at times. For example, when he was trying his hardest to tune out Clawhauser.

"… and there's supposed to be confetti, and a flying squirrel team! Can you imagine how cool that's going to be? And what a message! Gazelle truly does live up to her status as the 'Angel with Horns' …"

The cheetah sighed dreamily. Finnick resisted the urge to gag.

A loud crash startled the two predators. Muffled, angry voices and growls followed shortly after.

Clawhauser and Finnick glanced at each other, before scrambling to their paws and racing to the examination room.

Finnick scrambled for the door handle and yanked it open revealing Honey and Nick wrestling on the examination table. As the fox and badger suddenly noticed the open door Nick quickly and surprisingly deftly rolled out from under the solid badger and knocked her off the table.

Finnick rushed between the two. "Whoa, whoa whoa! Break it up!" The fennec looked to the fox. "What the hell, Nick?"

"A tame collar? A god damn, SHOCK collar?"

Finnick looked at his distraught friend. Nick was panting heavily, spitting out the words around growls. One paw was at his neck scratching at …

He was wearing a collar.

"Nick. You really need to calm down … " Finnick began.

"Calm down!? I need to calm down? Why the **hell** would you let them put these things on you?"

"It's not like we have a choice, Nick. This is just the way things are!" Clawhauser said.

"Just the way things are? This is as far from 'the way things are' as possible!"

Nick pointed at the cheetah. "You're a cop, same as me! You're supposed to be stuffing your face with donuts at central and regaling everyone in earshot with the latest gossip, not running some ramshackle Clinic in the middle of nowhere!"

Nick turned on the badger. "And I don't even know you! You keep acting like we're friends, but I'm pretty damn sure I saw you get arrested with Lionheart!"

The cheetah, fennec, and badger stood speechless.

Nick closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his muzzle, before continuing.

"And here's the best part. For some reason, everybody is wearing electric shock collars and acting like that's the status quo? This is WRONG! Nothing has made sense since I woke up. It's like the whole world has gone crazy!"

Nick was shouting now, absolutely livid. He didn't hear his new collar start to beep.

"And if **one** more person asks me if I'm feeling alright, I'm going to rip out their goddamn th …"

Pain lanced through Nick's neck. The shock burrowed rapidly, a fiery backdraft of agony worming its way through the whole of his body. A frigid, razor ache followed in the wake of the coursing blaze that arced and burst through the channels of his nerves like a lit oil slick on water. The venomous sting literally blinded him in a pyrotechnic splotches of bloody reds, neon greens and sickly yellows that filled his vision and made his head swim.

Nick yipped out in surprise and pain as he fell to one knee, blinking rapidly and gasping for air. The thudding, jackhammer beats of his heart were bellows to the smoldering pain that lingered and danced through his extremities, crackling through his paws and tail. Even as his vision rapidly began to clear, Nick could only blink away tears and struggle to breathe.

Clawhauser, Finnick, and Honey stared at the fox. The cheetah's eyes brimmed with moisture, mouth agape. The badger stared in disbelief. And the fennec's scowl had fallen into a look of unabashed concern.

Never, in all the years that they had known Nick, had any of them **ever** seen Nick get shocked. He had even prided himself on this point, flashing them that smug grin of his as he explained how above the "mundane" concerns of strong emotions he was. The image of Nick haughty and always in control, was so ingrained in their minds, and the contrast with the pained, beaten, and whimpering fox that stood before them was so great that none of the three had any idea how to react.

Nick gave a sudden and vicious growl, low at first but building to a primal roar. He began to bite and tear at the collar with his teeth and claws, the snarky cool and confident con-fox replaced with an avatar of unbridled fury that made his act at playing savage in the Natural History Museum look like a mewling kitten.

"Nick! NO! You'll just … "

The second shock was stronger. The shocks were always proportional to the intensity of the victim's emotions and shocks in close proximity grew progressively worse.

The fox was blasted back against the wall where he slid against the floor, his limbs twitching, clenching, and writhing against the tile. The deep scratches the fox left in the floor were a clawed signature - baptized in agony - for the Faustian devil coiled around his neck.

Clawhauser rushed forward towards Nick only to jerk short as he felt his tail yanked back suddenly, the portly cheetah losing his footing and falling onto his face. Honey's smaller but solid form was on top of him in a second, holding him down.

"You can't touch him, Ben!" she hissed.

The cheetah gave a low growl and tried to roll out from under the badger, only to have her deftly pin his right arm behind him.

"You **know** how this goes. We can't help him. It'll only make it worse."

The cheetah met the badger's gaze. Her eyes were filled with the same pain and worry that had bid him to spring to the fox's aid. After a moment they both turned to look at Nick.

He was curled against the wall in a fetal position, his eyes open wide staring blindly at nothing, gasping for breath in huge chest heaving gulps.

Tears began to run down the circumference of Clawhauser's face to collect at the tip of his muzzle. He turned his gaze from the fox unable to stomach the sight of his friend suffering and clutched at Honey. The badger looked across the room to Finnick.

The fennec was stiff as a board, arms clenched at his sides, ears back, eyes shut tightly, and a pained grimace on his face. He'd never seen anyone get walloped that hard by the collar before, and he never would have imagined it would happen to Nick. The fennec loved to see that smart-ass fox taken down a peg … but this? He wouldn't wish it on his worst enemies.

The three predators heard Nick give another guttural growl, pained and desperate.

A moment later they again heard the sick crackling of the collar's third discharge.

"Oh God, Nick … " Honey whispered.

None of them could bring themselves to watch, but there was no escaping the sound.

Finnick's eyes flew open when after a minute he heard Nick's first choked sob, wet and croaking. It was quickly followed by more, growing steadily softer.

Another first. Nick never cried.

Minutes passed where nobody moved. Nick's friends could only stare as the fox wept like a kit. Like he had outside of the Ranger Scouts.

But this time there was no way to pull off the muzzle.

Nick's tears eventually stopped, but only after he had no more left to shed.

A minute passed in heavy silence before Nick pulled himself to his feet. Staring at the floor, he dusted himself off, straightened out his shirt and adjusted his tie in his usual well-practiced, nonchalant manner. But there was no hiding how his body was trembling.

Finally, he looked up. The fox's emerald eyes met Finnick's and set every hair in the fennec's pelt on end.

He knew that look.

* * *

Finnick hated birthday parties. Especially kid's birthday parties.

Really, the fennec was not fond of kids in general. He couldn't stand their questions, their inane conversations, the stupid games they played, and the screeching! God he hated the sounds they made, in no small part due to how sensitive his enormous ears were. The sound was like a drill boring into his skull. Actually, no … Finnick was pretty sure that would be less painful.

But the birthday parties were the **worst**! No matter what he did, no matter how much he projected his "I'll bite your face off" attitude, some sniveling brat or worried parent would come and mistake him for a kid.

" _Where're your parents, kiddo?"_

" _Do you want a slice of cake?"_

" _Hi! I'm Jeanine! Wanna play 'Preds versus Prey'?"_

He was a grown mammal for crying out loud! Thankfully, the kids and parents usually stopped bothering him after he sent the first couple kids running off in tears.

So Finnick was not in a good mood when Nick had dragged him to the birthday bash for Kevin Koslov's son Morris. Finnick didn't know why Nick had been "asked" to arrange the festivities. If it were anyone else, the fennec would say they were just trying to get in good with the crime boss. Nick typically shied away from dealing with big players. Too much risk, too many strings.

So what the hell are you doing, Nick? The fennec had wondered.

Finnick knew that Nick probably didn't have much of a choice in the matter, but he could still make his displeasure known to his smug partner for roping him into the affair.

"I swear to God, Nick. If one of these bastards so much as offers me a party hat, I WILL kill someone." Finnick said as he pulled his van into the parking lot of Koslov's Palace.

The red fox gave him a smug grin. "Relax, Fin. Koslov knows you're my partner. He's not going to make you sit at the kiddie table! Besides, I've already taken care of everything. All we have to do is put in an appearance."

Finnick glared at him before hopping out of his van.

"You know, it's not a costume party per-se, but I'm sure the kids would've loved it if you came in that adorable elephant … "

" **Shut** your muzzle, Wilde or I will sew it closed!"

Nick had snickered at Finnick's reaction, which earned him a swift gut punch from the irate fennec.

"Ow, geeze. Watch it there Finny. You'll buzz yourself …"

The fennec let loose a string of epithets that would bring a blush to even the most vulgar of the city's dock workers.

The two foxes made their way inside and were quickly ushered into a party room in the back of the restaurant under the watchful eye of handful of dour faced polar bears.

The party was in full swing. A dozen kids (all predators of various types) were running around the room laughing as they tried to catch each other, happily shoveling cake and ice cream into their mouths as fast as possible, or jockeying for the next turn at the "Prance Prance Evolution" machine in the back corner.

In short, pandemonium.

Finnick frowned and turned to grouse at Nick but stopped when he noticed his friend's expression.

Nick's muzzle had a wistful smile, but there was no mistaking the tinge of sadness in his eyes.

"Look at that, Fin. When was the last time you could really cut loose like that?" the fox asked quietly.

Finnick followed Nick's gaze back to the party. The game of tag had devolved into a dogpile, at the center of which was the birthday cub. The young polar bear was laughing and growling, wrestling with (and managing to hold his own against) a timber wolf pup and a leopard cub. Despite the roughhousing, all three were smiling and enjoying themselves.

The fennec hadn't really enjoyed wrestling as a kid (what with his diminutive stature) but definitely knew the appeal of a good game of tag. He was always the fastest, and had loved the thrill of the chase. Ducking, dodging, and stalking all came naturally to him. He missed it.

"Yeah, lucky kids." Finnick sighed. "Once they get their collars that'll be the end of that."

Nick's smile vanished. "Morris turns 6 today."

Finnick blinked in surprise before bringing a paw to pinch the bridge of his muzzle.

"Damn. Poor bastard."

"Yeah."

Finnick saw Nick scratch idly at his neck.

Suddenly the pieces came together, and the fennec couldn't help but laugh.

"God damn it Wilde! I knew you were an idiot, but I didn't realize you were such a sap!"

Nick fixed the fennec with a glare. The fennec had just about doubled over in laughter.

"Oh boy, Honey's going to have a field day when she hears about this!"

"You know Fin, I could have sworn that you were a fennec not a hyena. What the hell is so funny?" Nick grumbled.

"Mr. Cool and Uncaring himself, Nick Wilde set up a party just to make a poor widdle kiddo feel bwetter about getting his collar."

Nick rolled his eyes as the fennec cackled. "Look Fin his dad's Koslov, ok? Kevin Koslov! If he gives you a job, you don't say no."

"Whatever you want to tell yourself!" Finnick laughed and shook his head. "Admit it, you feel bad for the kid!"

Nick shot him a glare, but then sighed and looked back towards the party.

After a moment the sad smile returned.

"Fine, I do feel bad for him. Kid's got a lot of growing up to do real fast." The fox sighed.

Finnick followed Nick's gaze back to the celebration. The wrestling match had disbanded, and the majority of the kids were sitting in a circle. A jaguar cub ran around the circumference tapping the heads of each kid as he went by:

"Antelope, Zebra, Gazelle, Oryx … CHEETAH!"

The last mammal tapped, a coyote, lept to her paws and began to chase the jaguar around the circle.

"I'm not a cheetah, I'm a coyote!" The pup protested.

"Yeah, that's why you'll never catch me Stacey!" the jaguar said, sticking his tongue out at her.

The two ran around the circle, Stacey just narrowly failing to catch up to the jaguar before he took her place at the circle.

"Alright, your turn Stace!" Morris said with a happy laugh. Boy, did he look like he was having fun.

Finnick looked back at Nick.

"Well, you may be a wuss Nick but I gotta hand it to ya. The kids look happy."

Nick smiled, genuine this time.

And a minute later the smile took on a sly twist. It was a smile that Finnick knew meant either big trouble or a big payoff.

"You know Fin, I think this little shindig has given me a great idea …"

"Oh boy, here we go." Finnick rolled his eyes.

"Oh bite me, Fin. When have my ideas ever ended poorly?" Nick said with a smug grin, before looking sharply at the fennec. "That time with the Bunny Scouts doesn't count. How was I supposed to know that a pack of cute little cottontails could be that vicious?"

Finnick glared. "Uh huh, sure."

The two were interrupted when a massive white paw dropped onto Nick's shoulder, nearly knocking him to the ground.

"Nikolai! Dobro pozhalovat! So glad you could come!"

Kevin Koslov towered over the two foxes, though truthfully Koslov towered over everyone. His voice boomed loudly in Finnick's ears, and the fennec's nose caught the strong smell of vodka. The polar bear wore a dark blue suit over a turquoise turtleneck, offset with a gaudy gold medallion around his neck. He would have cut a very intimidating figure, were it not for the broad smile and paper party hat that was perched on his head.

"Kevin, you know I wouldn't miss your boy's big day for the world! Six years old … that's big!" Nick said with an easy laugh.

"Da. Very big." The polar bear's face clouded briefly, but lit back up as he turned to address the other fox.

"Ah, you must be Kolya's partner in crime? You must be clever to keep up with this zhulik?"

Finnick mumbled, "Uh, yeah. I guess."

"You foxes, too modest! Keeps everyone guessing, eh?" Koslov nudged Nick with his elbow (nearly sending him sprawling) before giving a belly shaking laugh.

Finnick quickly glanced at Nick who mouthed "Smooth." Finnick flipped him the bird.

The polar bear continued: "Well, you have my thanks! You and Nikolai here have made my boy very happy! My dear Verochka would have been so proud."

The polar bear looked to the heavens and crossed himself.

"Anyway, enough chatter. Come my friends, it is time for my boy to receive his presents!" The polar bear boomed.

At that declaration, Morris and the rest of the kids excitedly jumped up and rushed over to a pile of presents that had been placed on a small stage.

For the next twenty minutes Nick and Finnick watched Morris excitedly open gift after gift. Most were thinly veiled attempts to ingratiate the giver with Koslov; rings and other jewelry were very common. Morris was not terribly excited about those, preferring a Jack Savage action figure to a gold-plated crucifix any day.

"Sheesh, we're in the wrong line of work Fin. Being the son of a Mafiosi sure pays, doesn't it?" Nick noted wryly around a mouthful of cake he'd helped himself to.

Finally the pile of gifts dwindled and the party-goers settled in for one last game before their parents arrived.

"Almost done, Fin. Hang in there." Nick teased.

"One more word, Wilde. See what happens."

"Um, excuse me! Mr Finnick? Mr Wilde?"

Finnick and Nick turned to find Morris standing before them.

"Papa says that you two were the ones who brought the Prance Prance machine, and the cake and decorations and stuff all, uh stirrup-tish-us-ly ... whatever that means. I'm supposed to thank you guys, so uh … thanks!"

The polar bear cub gave warm, toothy smile to the two foxes. He gets that from his dad, Finnick bet.

"Don't mention it, kiddo. And please, my friends call me Nick." The red fox bent down to the small cub's level and held out his paw. Morris shook it eagerly.

"Ok Nick!"

"And my buddy here?" Nick cocked his head to the fennec. "He goes by Mr. Grumpypants."

Finnick growled angrily. "That's it! Kiss that straight muzzle goodbye Wilde, I'm getting my bat!"

Morris and Nick started laughing. Finnick just scowled.

Fifteen minutes later the parents began to arrive and make small talk in front of the stage. Kevin led his son up onto the stage and addressed the crowd.

"As you know, my wonderful boy here is turning six years old today!"

Kevin paused, and there was a smattering of applause from the room.

"Which means, today is also the day that he gets his collar."

Morris clearly could barely contain his excitement. Or maybe it's just all that sugar, Finnick thought.

Kevin held his hand out and a nearby polar bear placed a small (by bear standards) wooden box into his hand.

"Happy Birthday, son."

Kevin turned the box around and opened it to reveal a brand new bear-sized tame collar.

Morris reached out for it eagerly, only to start when his dad reflexively pulled the box back.

"Papa, is something wrong?" The cub asked.

A pained expression danced across Kevin's face. After a moment, he sighed.

"No. Papa is just … " Kevin trailed off, but extended the box to his boy one more time.

Morris quickly put the collar around his neck, a big smile on his face. Kevin reached down, latched the collar closed and then drew his son into a hug.

The crowd began to applaud, and the cub turned to face them. Morris was smiling ear to ear.

"Lookit guys!" he called out to his friends "I've got a collar now! How cool is that!?"

Finnick and Nick looked at one another.

"He's getting too worked up." Finnick whispered.

"No, not right out of the gate … " Nick pleaded.

"This is so COOL!" Morris said, oblivious.

"Morris … Morris!" Kevin called out.

"Check it out everyone! I've got ..."

_BZZZRAAP_

Morris' first shock was quiet but unmistakable.

Instantly the cub grimaced, his grin contorted into a mask of surprise. And then there came the look. That harrowing, haunting look.

The look of someone who just realized that there are things they could never do again, feelings that they were forbidden from feeling. The look of someone who just realized there was no way out. This was life now, get used to it.

Morris stood frozen for a long time, before he turned to face his father and ran to his embrace.

Nick and Finnick were silent on the ride back.

* * *

Finnick saw Morris' same look etched into the contours of Nick's face.

He'd never been shocked before.

Nick sniffed and cleared his throat before slowly taking a seat back on the examination table. Finally he turned to look at the three living statues of concern staring at him.

"Well, that sucked … Quite the, uh ... 'Electrifying' experience." Nick quipped, his voice hoarse and raw, the ghost of his smug smirk tugging at the corner of his muzzle.

Clawhauser bolted to Nick's side and engulfed him in a hug.

"Easy there, Spots! I'm still a bit sore." Nick made a show of trying to escape the embrace before finally acquiescing to the cheetah.

"God damn it, Nick! It'd be just like you to get zapped harder than a lightning bolt and make a god-awful pun about it." Honey gripped in mock anger before coming around to disentangle Clawhauser from her patient.

Honey drew a small flashlight from her coat pocket, grabbed Nick by the muzzle and quickly shined it in each of the fox's eyes.

"Yup, you got nailed hard. Serves you right, moron."

"Wow, thanks for the diagnosis Doc. Top marks for bedside manner." Nick said flatly, and looked over the badger's shoulder to where Finnick still stood expressionless.

"No need to work yourself up on my account, Fin!" Nick said with false cheer.

Finnick shook his head slowly, side to side. "No way."

"No way what?" Nick asked, head cocked slightly to the side as Honey inspected the collar around his neck.

Finnick looked Nick directly in the eyes.

"Who the hell are you? Cause you ain't Nick."


	4. Relapse

_"That is the fear: I have lost something important, and I cannot find it, and I need it. It is fear like if someone lost his glasses and went to the glasses store and they told him that the world had run out of glasses and he would just have to do without."_

_― John Green, Looking for Alaska_

* * *

"Listen, it's not that difficult." Clawhauser said through a mouth full of food. "The multi-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics suggests that anything that can happen, does happen. But obviously not in the same world, else causality would be all kinds of messed up. So, whenever there is a choice between multiple equally likely outcomes, the universe branches such that there is a universe where each outcome happens …"

The cheetah swallowed and after a minute asked, "You know what I think?"

Ben looked expectantly at the fennec, badger, and fox sitting across the table from them. After the distressing events at the clinic, the four predators had headed to a nearby Panda restaurant that catered to predators to eat and try to make sense of things.

When none of his friends had anything to add other than blank stares, Ben continued:

"I think that he's **A** Nick, but not **OUR** Nick!"

Finnick stared at the cheetah for a moment before turning to Honey. "Madge, ain't you supposed to be the crazy one?"

"Hey, there's nothing crazy about the truth. And if the tubby tabby here knows about something, you can damn well bet the sheep do." Honey said flatly.

"So what, he's from another dimension? Is that it?" Finnick looked dubiously at Clawhauser.

"Well, dimension isn't the right term. But yeah … sorta. Like, he's Nick from an alternate reality! Any of you guys watch the Z-Files?"

The cheetah was again met with blank stares.

"Oh come on! It's a fantastic show. And Mulder and Scully make for the best 'will they or won't they' couple …"

"Ben, focus. You're the one who got the physics degree. Is any of what you're saying actually possible?" Honey asked.

"Well, I don't know. We're all still trying to figure out if there's a multiverse to begin with. And if there is, we have no idea how to go from one universe to the other. Or if it's even possible …"

Finnick growled in frustration. "So this gets us nowhere." The fennec looked at Nick. "Any of this ring a bell?"

The cheetah, badger, and fennec turned to look at the red fox. He was absently poking at his sweet and sour crickets with a pair of chopsticks.

This had to be a dream, Nick had decided. But it couldn't be. He could still conjure the pain of the collar vividly into his memory, and it was stronger and more real than any dream he'd ever had.

And if it wasn't a dream, than he had to be crazy. There was no way, no rational reason why he could remember living a life in Zootopia free of those abominable collars and still be here in this messed up …

"Ground Control to Major Nick! Wake up already!" The fennec's angry growl hadn't changed in any case.

"Huh?" Nick said, noticing at last the trio of predators staring at him.

"Look, I don't have any answers here!" The red fox protested. "Marian weeps … For all I know you're just the fevered projections of my subconscious. I'm probably in a coma or something …"

After a beat Nick laughed, "Ha! You're not doing some Inception thing on me right?"

The trio of predators across the table stared at blankly.

"You know, that movie with Leonardo Dicatrio? … Forget it, whatever." Nick sighed, and continued poking at his food. It certainly tasted real.

A minute passed in uncomfortable silence. Finally Honey said, "Listen regardless of whatever the hell is going on with Nick, we need the cash to pay back Koslov or things are going to get … uncomfortable."

Finnick and Clawhauser looked at the badger as she continued, "You two were supposed to pull the pawpsicle job. Are we still a go?" The badger looked at Nick pointedly. "Or should we start figuring out a backup plan?"

The trio once again looked at Nick.

"The pawpsicle job, huh?" Nick said. "I **can** do it, no problem. But I swore an oath you know…"

Nick reached into his back pocket and produced his wallet. He flipped it open to reveal a gleaming silver badge and ID card.

**Officer Nicholas P. Wilde**

**Badge # 1328345238**

**Zootopia Police Department**

**Precinct 1**

"I gave up my conning days for something better." Nick said quietly, before looking sorrowfully at Finnick.

Finnick gingerly took the wallet from Nick and looked it over. After a minute he said, "Shit. This is either the best fake I've ever seen or …"

Honey took the wallet from the fennec and began to look it over as Finnick looked squarely at Nick. "You joined the fuzz, Slick?"

Nick smiled weakly and shrugged. "What can I say … A little bunny made me?"

How Nick wished he could explain how much Hopps had really done to save him, but what difference would that make?

Finnick furrowed his brow and studied the red fox for a minute. "There ain't no predators in the ZPD. Let alone foxes. I don't know what you are, so I'm asking. Can you do this job Nick? … Will you do this job?"

_You're better than that, Nick. You're not a sly, untrustworthy fox._

_You're_ _**my** _ _fox. My partner. My best friend._

But Judy wasn't here. And Nick was scared and confused after that conversation with … whoever ever it was he had called.

It had sounded so much like her.

"Nick?" Finnick said softly.

"You're damn right I can do it, Finn. I came up with the hustle in the first place, didn't I?" Nick said, an easy smile finding its way onto his muzzle.

_I'm sorry, Judy, but I don't know what else to do._

"And I know just where to start." Nick began.

 

* * *

_Thumpthumpthumpthumpthumpthumpthumpthumpthumpthumpthumpthumpthump…_

"Judy, I'm sure he's just overslept his alarm. He's fine!" Clawhauser said soothingly from his perch behind the big circular desk in the lobby of the precinct. "And if you don't stop thumping your foot like that, I'm afraid you're going to hit the resonance frequency for the building …"

Judy caught herself and stilled her foot. It was one of her "bunny-isms"- as Nick called them- that she tried to suppress or keep to a minimum. It drew too much attention to the fact that she was a rabbit, and away from her hard-fought professional identity. It was hard for her peers to take her seriously when they were resisting the urge to call her 'cute'.

_Carrots, I told you once and I'll tell ya' again. If someone can't see what a fantastic cop you are they're not worth impressing._

Nick had been right; she shouldn't care about what anybody thought about her. But even so, Hopps couldn't help but get exasperated when someone didn't take her as seriously as she took the job.

And as much as it annoyed Judy, she thought Nick had the worst of it. His dubious past as a con-fox didn't help break any fox stereotypes. His relaxed demeanor helped to win over the other officers and put suspects at ease, but it was a double-edged sword. Whenever one of their peers would see Nick working a case late with Judy, they'd invariably make a joke about Judy "finally putting the fox to work". Nick would always laugh and play the part of the harried fox, despite having worked as long and diligently as his partner.

It drove Judy nuts. She knew that it had to affect him on some level just like it did with her. He was just too good at hiding it. "Never let them see that they get to you" he'd said that night in the gondola, leaving the rest of it – even though they **do** get to you – unspoken.

It didn't seem to matter how hard the two worked, how consistently they excelled, or how exemplary their record. All it took was once. One slip up, one mistake, and it was instant confirmation of all the things people thought about them. For anyone looking at the situation it was simple:

Lazy fox, emotional rabbit.

"Frith in a fog, Nick! Where are you?" Judy cursed angrily under her breath.

She whipped out her phone for the third time this minute and checked to see if Nick had responded to any of the two dozen texts she'd fired off in the three hours since rollcall. Nothing.

For the first hour Judy had been annoyed. By the middle of the second hour she was furious. But now, her fury was ebbing and being replaced with a cold sliver of dread.

This isn't like him. What if he's in trouble?

_Thumpthumpthumpthumpthumpthumpthumpthumpthumpthumpthumpthumpthump…_

A thousand possibilities raced through Hopps' mind; if Nick had the audacity to swindle Mr. Big, how many other lowlifes are out there that ran afoul of Nick's penchant for mischief?

Stop it, Judy! She mentally chided herself. You're just overreacting. There'll be a perfectly good explanation for what happened when he finally shows up.

 ** _If_** _he shows up_. Came a cruel whisper from the corner of her mind.

"No! He's not like that. He never was." Judy growled at herself and banished the thought to a little box in her mind labeled 'Crap I got from my parents.'

"Officer Hopps?"

The deep voice of Chief Bogo startled the rabbit out of her brooding.

"Ah, y-yes sir!"

"I take it from your agitation and the eerie silence around the precinct that Wilde has yet to grace us with his presence."

"No, chief. He hasn't come in yet."

Bogo arched an eyebrow at the hint of dejection in Judy's tone. He paused for a moment, and then handed a stack of manila folders to Clawhauser.

"See to it these get filed, Clawhauser."

When the buffalo looked back at Judy he could see she was about to say something so he quickly held up a hoof to cut her off.

"I've assigned Ulfur and Oroszlan to your patrol in Sahara Square. Now obviously I can't have you standing here all day. I got a tip about something I'd like you to look into."

"Yes sir, but I'm concerned about Ni- … uh, Officer Wilde. It isn't like him to just drop out of contact. I'd like permission to go and check on him."

"Granted, as soon as you're finished investigating this tip. Understood?" Bogo said in a gruff tone that brooked no argument.

Judy nodded, now very eager to finish up whatever task Bogo had for her.

"Good. I just got a call from my old partner. I don't think you've ever met Mike, have you?"

"No sir."

"He was the captain in charge of the detective bureau before he retired. One of the best. Needless to say, if he bothered to call about something than it's worth looking into."

Bogo was glad to see he had Judy's complete attention. If he had a dozen officers like her … Or hell, even like Wilde.

"Here are my notes from the phone call. In short, Mike saw a terrified fox running around near Sahara Square wearing what he thinks is a tame collar."

"A what, sir?"

"A tame collar. Polite way to say shock collar, really. I'm not surprised you haven't heard of them, they've been outlawed for years. They used to use them to pacify unruly psychiatric patients before mammals realized how cruel they were."

Bogo paused for a moment, and sure enough Hopps was waiting on his every word.

"Go track this fox down. If he really does have a collar and –God forbid – its active, keep the poor bastard calm and call in a bus. Now this would have been much easier if Wilde was with you, but I'm sure an officer of your caliber can handle this."

"Yes sir, I'll get right on it!"

"Good." Bogo turned and started to walk towards his office.

Over his shoulder he added, "And don't dawdle, Hopps. I need my premier team in good shape."

Judy looked up quickly from the folder Bogo had handed her to stare agape at the departing chief.

"OHMIGOSH! Did the chief just say you and Nick were his premier team?" Clawhauser gave a squeal of delight from behind the front desk.

Judy picked her jaw off the floor, and looked at Clawhauser.

"Wow, Judy! He never does that." The cheetah said. "You know, the whole compliment thing … You two are making waves!"

Judy looked back at the folder, again at the retreating form of the chief, and then struck a stance Nick jokingly referred to as the "Wonder Bunny" pose: stance wide, arms on her hips, chin upturned, eyebrows furrowed, and topped with a frown of determination.

Judy gave Clawhauser a two finger salute as she dashed out the front door of the precinct.

"Wish me luck Ben … I'm off to catch two foxes with one blueberry!"

 


	5. Echoes

_"TAKE THE UNIVERSE AND GRIND IT DOWN TO THE FINEST POWDER AND SIEVE IT THROUGH THE FINEST SIEVE AND THEN SHOW ME ONE ATOM OF JUSTICE, ONE MOLECULE OF MERCY. AND YET"—Death waved a hand. "AND YET YOU ACT AS IF THERE IS SOME IDEAL ORDER IN THE WORLD, AS IF THERE IS SOME...SOME RIGHTNESS IN THE UNIVERSE BY WHICH IT MAY BE JUDGED."_

_"Yes, but people have got to believe that, or what's the point—"_

_"MY POINT EXACTLY."_

_― Terry Pratchett, Hogfather_

* * *

The last year had been a big one, but Finnick couldn't decide if it was on the whole a good year or a bad one.

The fennec was leaning against a small mound of pillows in the back of his van paying no attention to a small TV that droned on. Finnick was the kind of mammal that needed background noise whenever he brooded about something; the mindless sound of daytime television was working perfectly. White noise helped to muffle his very sensitive ears making it easier for the small fox to focus on his thoughts

Thoughts like, what was he going to do now?

* * *

Finnick's one big soft spot was for Nick, something the red fox was all too aware of. Finnick was only a few years older than Nick but had been thrown to the streets at a much earlier age. And just like the "Todd named Sue" he'd had to grow up 'quick' and 'mean'. By the time he met Nick, Finnick had cultivated a reputation as a scrapper and been everything from a hired tough to a getaway driver.

When Finnick had found Nick bleeding and unconscious against a dumpster in a back alley, the fennec had seen a younger version of himself. He took Nick under his wing. It wasn't long before their partnership flourished, and after a while the two grudgingly realized they shared a brotherly friendship.

They'd had a good thing going before that damned bunny showed up. After years of scraping by on the streets and living from one dodgy job to the next Nick had really come into his own as a hustler. He and Finnick had made a name for themselves as a couple of clever and dependable foxes, and started to attract the attention of fish much bigger than them.

But they weren't after glamor or fame. Neither had any real goals other than to get by, but they both had lines they wouldn't cross.

Lines that life in the big leagues would have demanded they cross.

They never really talked about it, but they both realized that they weren't interested. So Nick had put his talents to work and managed to come up with a few ingenious, albeit low-key hustles. Zero risk, decent profit! All for the low, low cost of having to swallow his pride and wear his elephant costume.

Not the most glamourous work, but Finnick was glad that the money was consistent. They made enough that they didn't have to do anything else, really. It was an easy life, and Finnick felt like he'd finally caught a break. The fennec had spent his entire life craving security and stability. And though he was content, Finnick could see that Nick was anything but.

And then like the proverbial bolt from the blue, they'd hustled the rookie bunny cop and everything went to hell. The next thing Finnick knew Nick was off working for the fuzz, only to return a couple days later absolutely crushed and dejected.

The foundational rule in Nick and Finnick's friendship was that they didn't talk about the past or their feelings. Finnick didn't ask about why Nick shuddered at the sight of a muzzle, and Nick never asked why Finnick had an elephant costume. But at the sight of his disheartened friend, Finnick had felt a surge of protectiveness. It was the same feeling that had made him stop in that alley and drag a comatose Nick into the back of his van.

It had taken him weeks of constant badgering to get enough of the story out of Nick to figure out the gist of what happened. The rest he pieced together from the news about the fear and unrest in the city. There wasn't anything Finnick could do for Nick; he'd gone and let his guard down around the rabbit, and she'd stabbed him in the back.

Finnick had been there before. He knew that the thing that was killing Nick was hope. Hope that she'd come back. Hope that she'd realize her mistake and come running to apologize. Finnick knew that she never would. They **never** did … but at least the hurt would dull with time.

And then three months later the unthinkable happened.

Judy Hopps had shown up at Finnick's van. In the split second that it took the fennec to see she wasn't an intruder he also saw the emotions burning fiercely in the rabbit's eyes. Guilt and remorse.

* * *

It was so tempting for Finnick to resent Judy.

If not for her, he'd still be hustling with Nick. Instead, he was on his own making less than half of the dough he was used to and getting into fights with lowlifes dumb enough to refer to Nick as a 'rat fink bastard' in Finnick's presence. All of the stability he'd grown used to had flown out the door as soon as Nick told him he'd been accepted to the academy.

It sucked, basically.

But Finnick couldn't be mad at Judy, not after she'd proved him so very wrong. And Finnick had never seen Nick seem as animated as he was when he was with her or talking about starting up with the ZPD. Nick was jumping at the chance to make something of himself, and Finnick was proud of his friend. And - if he was honest with himself – jealous as fuck.

"Lucky bastard." The fennec grumbled to himself.

He reached over and grabbed a sheet of paper off of the passenger's seat and looked it over.

It was a job posting for a custom auto shop in Sahara Square that was looking for a talented mechanic and body artist. Finnick's van was a labor of love. He'd kept it running for decades on his skills with a wrench and a wing and a prayer. He'd spent weeks painting his mural of Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl on the side of his van ignoring the jokes Nick made at his expense. And when the painting was done even Nick had to admit he was impressed.

Nick had swung by last week with the posting and tried to convince Finnick to apply. He'd apparently put in a good word with the owner of the auto shop who was eager to meet the fennec.

Finnick had flown into a rage and snapped at Nick, accusing his friend of patronizing him. He didn't need anyone's pity, least of all Nick's.

Nick had been frustratingly patient. He'd weathered the fennec's colorful vocabulary and said at last, "Finnick, I'm just trying to look out for you. Same thing you've been doing for me for years. Just promise me you'll think about it, ok?"

And so Finnick was sitting in the back of his van thinking about it.

He'd been on the streets all his life and didn't know anything else. He didn't know if he'd enjoy working at the auto shop or be good at the work. And even if he did and was he'd miss the cons, the hustling.

But maybe it was time for a change. Hell, if it worked for Nick then why couldn't it work for him?

Finnick shut off the TV and rubbed at his eyes. He wasn't going to decide anything on the spot. He reached for a pair of headphones and went to tune out the world in a less focused way when he heard a familiar knock on the back of his van.

The fennec got to his paws, and opened the back door.

"There you are Finn! You would not believe the day I'm having."

There was a red fox leaning on the back of the van with an easy smile.

"Nick?"

"Who else? Now hurry up and get your costume on. We've got a job to do!"

* * *

"Okay, that was weird. We didn't even have to give him the sob story …" Nick scratched at the back of his head.

The elephant behind the counter had taken one look at the two foxes, sighed angrily and then wordlessly reached for a jumbo pop. After the elephant snatched the cash out of the fox's hands, he had lobbed the treat over the counter and Nick had to scramble to catch it. Not ones to question providence nor provoke an angry elephant, Nick and Finnick had beat a quick retreat.

Now the two foxes were standing on the street, and Nick handed the elephantine popsicle to his partner. "Hold this a sec, will ya?"

Nick reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a scratch pad and pen that he began to flip through. He stopped on a page that was labeled "Popsicles" and started to skim through a list of addresses that were written there.

"Did we hit this place before or something? I could swear we've never …"

**"NICHOLAS PIBERIOUS WILDE!** "

The two foxes jumped in unison, ears swiveling to the sound. Their instincts told them to run from the bear or lion that had roared at them. A moment of confusion clouded their minds when they realized that the massive sound had somehow emanated from the very angry rabbit standing in front of them.

Nick collected himself quickly.

"Oh look! It's Lieutenant Skipps. What brin-"

" **Shut your mouth Wilde!** "

Judy's tone was clipped, promising a world of misery to anyone stupid enough to interrupt her. She closed the gap between her and Nick in a blink, grabbed him by his tie and pulled him down to the same level as her.

"Four hours, Nick. **Four**. What. The. Hell?"

She punctuated each sentence with a jab at the fox's chest.

"Listen, bunny …"

" **I SAID CAN IT!** " Judy was incensed, panting in rage. "I was beginning to think you were seriously hurt. But no! You're doing just fine and apparently running off to go hustling with Finnick … Are you **trying** to get fired?"

Judy released Nicks tie and wheeled on the fennec. Thankfully Finnick was not a tie-wearing mammal.

"And you! I thought you were his friend. Why the **hell** would you encourage this?"

As tough as Finnick liked to pretend he was, he couldn't help but wilt away from the raging rabbit.

"Well? I'm just **dying** for a good explanation for what I'm looking at here." Judy crossed her arms and glared at her partner.

Finnick was willing to bet that if he held the jumbo pop in front of Judy's gaze it would melt on the spot.

"Go on, Nick. Don't keep me waiting."

Nick made a show of dusting off his shoulders and stretching out his neck.

"First off fluff, unless you want a police brutality charge levied against you keep your paws to yourself."

There was nothing playful about Nick's tone. He was tense, and spoke with a measured calmness bristling with an acerbic edge.

"Second. Nothing I've done here is illegal. I know everything a chomper like me does is enough to warrant suspicion, but really?" He laughed humorlessly. "What, did you run out of donuts and were left with nothing better to do but harass me for buying a popsicle?"

Nick mainly used sarcasm to tease, mock or deflect. But here it was a blade for Nick to cut and wound.

"And third. If you're pissy about the ticket, too bad. It's not my fault you didn't show up to court when I contested it. I guess you'll have to go make yourself feel better by ticketing a bunch of cars. What a way to make the world a better place, right?"

Judy's ears had fallen limp behind her head and she stared at Nick in pained bewilderment.

"So if there's nothing else Officer, why don't you take your fuzzy wuzzy little cottontail and overinflated sense of moral superiority and head two blocks down that-a-way." He pointed. "There's a fantastic little produce stand where you can buy some carrots to shove right …"

"What the **fuck** , Nick!" Finnick shouted.

Nick looked sharply at the fennec before catching his shocked expression.

"Oh fine." Nick rolled his eyes and pinched the bridge of his muzzle. "I'll be a good little predator."

Nick got down on his knees and placed both paws behind his head.

"There, happy?" Nick sneered at Finnick before turning back to Judy. "Collar's charged, but I'm sure you'll want to check anyway."

Judy was so caught up in having found Nick that she only just noticed the collar around his neck. She'd managed to find Bogo's fox after all.

"Nick … why are you wearing that?"

Nick scoffed. "Because I'm a predator, darling. A shifty, untrustworthy fox."

Nick spat out the last sentence and Judy recoiled in shock.

"This isn't you Nick. This is …" Judy paused and swallowed hard. "This is the old you. Nick … what happened?"

She reached out to put a comforting paw on his elbow.

Nick gave a low growl and shook her off. Judy's eyes glistened and she was on the verge of tears.

"Spare me the patronization. You don't know me."

_See, what did I tell you? You can never trust a fox._

The cruel whisper had snuck its way out from the irrational part of her mind. Its words were bellows that relit the embers of her fury.

"Bullshit Nick! I know you better than you know yourself.

"You're a good mammal Nick, whether you believe it or not. You stood up to Bogo for me. You saved my life and nabbed Bellwether with a trick I couldn't have come up with in a million years.

"And then you spent months at the academy busting your tail to become Officer Nick Wilde, first fox on the force and Valedictorian of his class. And why? Because a dumb bunny asked you to be her partner.

"And I'll be damned if whatever the hell happened to you gets in the way of that. So you're going to tell me what's gotten into you and why you're wearing the collar."

Nick stared at Judy for a minute, and then began to laugh.

"Wow, what a story. It was awful nice of you to 'redeem' me from my wicked, foxy ways. So when do I get a cut of the screenplay royalties?"

The fox stood up and smirked at Judy.

"Listen sweetheart this has been real fun. Seriously, let's do it again sometime. Now since you've got no grounds to detain me, we'd best be off."

Nick began to walk back towards Finnick's van.

"Come on Finnick. We've got better things to do than be subject to her fantasies."

"Like hell we do." Finnick growled, prompting Nick to stop and turn to face him. "Your bunny's right, Nick. This isn't like you."

Finnick looked Nick directly in the eyes.

"Who the hell are you? Cause you ain't Nick."


	6. Subterranean Homesick Mammals

_Ah! well a-day! what evil looks_

_Had I from old and young!_

_Instead of the cross, the Albatross_

_About my neck was hung._

\- _Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner_

* * *

Jumbeaux's Café looked exactly as Nick remembered it.

This did not bring him any comfort.

If there were some difference, no matter how small, the fox could have seized on it as concrete evidence of the un-reality of his current surroundings. But everything - from the garish yellow and pink wallpaper, to the oversized red diner stools, the white and red tile floor, and the old fashioned paper hats the two pachyderms behind the counter wore – only served to fuel the nagging doubts in Nick's mind.

Was he a cop who was dreaming he was back to being a con-fox? Or was he a con-fox who fooled himself into thinking he'd been something more?

"Nick, the joint looks promising enough. But why'd you insist on this one? There's half a dozen other shops we could hit."

Honey's question brought Nick back into the moment.

Finnick, Nick, and the badger were sitting in the fennec's van parked across the street from the café. Honey lowered a set of binoculars, handed them to Finnick in the passenger seat, and turned to look at Nick.

"I had a good experience with this shop. Well I mean, I think I did …" Nick said sheepishly.

Honey looked to Finnick. "You guys hit this place before?"

The fennec lowered the binoculars and shook his head.

"In any case, I've got a good feeling about this place." Nick said in an attempt to placate Honey.

"Alright, whatever." Honey sighed. "Just walk me through this again, Nick."

Nick took a deep breath. Was he really going to do this again? Yes, yes he was.

"It's easy really. Fin here is my adorable little kit with a big dream of being an elephant when he grows up. It's his birthday so I – his adoring father –"

Finnick and Honey rolled their eyes in unison.

"Oh bite me. Anyway, I'm taking the little tyke to get an elephant sized jumbo pop. If we get lucky, some sap will take the bait and feel moved by the sob story and buy us the pop. If not, we'll cause enough of a scene to get the owners to just sell us the pop."

"And if they call the fuzz?"

"Relax, they won't." Nick flashed a confident smile. "Not the first time I've done this, darling."

"Alright so you get the jumbo pop, we melt it down, and then refreeze it as a bunch of pawpsicles in Tundra Town, right?"

"Bingo. There're a bunch of lemmings with a penchant for frozen treats that we can pawn these off to. Then we sell the sticks as lumber in Little Rodentia. Waste not, want not!"

"If this works Wilde …"

"It works fine, trust me." Nick grinned.

Honey sighed.

"Anything to add, Finnick?"

"Let's just get this done." The fennec growled. "The sooner I'm out of this costume the better."

The smaller fox opened the passenger door and made to hop out of the van.

"Hold up, Fin. We're missing the finishing touch!" Nick said with a wolfish grin.

Finnick saw the look on the larger fox's face and pointed accusingly. "No way, Nick. Whatever it is …"

Nick held up a pacifier.

"Aw HELL NO!"

* * *

"I'm not looking for any trouble either, sir, I simply want to buy a Jumbo-pop. For my little boy."

Nick turned to Finnick and said sweetly, "You want the red or the blue, pal?"

As the fennec scampered over to the counter Nick quickly scoped the establishment. He desperately hoped to see a small figure with a bright orange vest, but he was only able to note the distrustful glances from the patrons in the café.

OK. Not likely to find any bleeding hearts here, he thought.

Finnick pointed exuberantly at the red Jumbo-pop, and then bounced over to stand next to his "father".

Jerry Jumbeaux Jr. stood behind the counter looking decidedly irritated.

"Listen fox, we don't serve chompers here." The elephant gestured to a sign on the wall that read 'We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone.'

"So take a hike, or I'll call the ZPD. Your kind don't belong here."

Finnick began to sob exaggeratedly, sticking to his role as the poor kit.

Jerry had jumped straight to threatening to call the police, so Nick realized this wasn't going to work. He needed to use a different tact. Dammit, this would have been so much easier if he just had a mark like Judy …

Of course!

"Well you could call the ZPD … but then you'd have to explain why your customers are getting snot and mucous with their cookies and cream."

Finnick stared at Nick in shock; this wasn't the plan.

Nick did his best to emulate Judy's tone.

"I mean, I don't **want** to cause you any trouble, but I'm pretty sure scooping ice cream with an ungloved trunk is a class-three health-code violation …"

Nick saw the elephant's alarmed expression and smirked.

"I mean … I may be just a dumb fox, but I think that's a pretty big deal. And I'd hate for a nice guy like you to have to explain that to the ZPD. Of course, if I'd be out of your fur in a heartbeat if you just let me buy a pop for my little boy …"

Nick pulled the fennec close to himself, who immediately snapped back into character.

"What a kid, am I right? Wants to be an elephant when he grows up!" Nick ruffled the fur on the top of the fennec's head in a 'faux' show of familial affection.

Finnick flipped up the hood on his costume and gave a little 'toot toot'.

Nick beamed a broad grin at Jerry. The elephant stared at the fox with a glare to rival Finnick's.

"Fifteen dollars." The elephant said finally, snatching the money out of Nick's paws. "And if I see you in here again fox, the fuzz will be the least of your problems."

Nick hoisted the massive Jumbo-pop onto his shoulders and took Finnick's hand.

"Oh don't worry. I'm sure he's just going through a phase. Unfortunately for you, being an asshole is a chronic condition. Wave goodbye to the nice bigot, son!"

Nick gave a mocking two finger salute and slipped out the front door of the café with Finnick.

* * *

"A class three health code violation … Did you make that shit up or what?" Finnick grumbled as he bent over to place a stick into the fennec sized pawprint he'd just made in the snow.

"Nope! That's 100% a thing." Finnick didn't need to look to know Nick was wearing a smug smile.

"Really …" The fennec shook his head. "Way to think on your paws, kid. Thought we were busted there."

"Wish I could say it was my idea." Nick said wistfully.

Finnick paused and watched Nick pour some of the now liquid Jumbo-pop into the next paw-shaped depression in the snow.

He looked like Nick, he sounded like Nick … hell he smelled like Nick. But the fennec kept getting glances of someone he didn't know. The same kind of glance that he'd gotten back at the clinic, if more fleeting.

Finnick was pretty sure the Nick he knew wouldn't have been able to think up the health-code angle at the last minute. So how did this Nick do it? Finnick couldn't come up with a good answer, but he began to wonder:

What if he was telling the truth?

What if he was really a cop?

What if he never had to wear a collar?

What would that mean?

"Fin, these we're good for about a dozen more." Nick said absently, noticing the fennec standing still.

"Right." The fennec grumbled, and resumed stamping out depressions in the snow.

* * *

Lt. Judy Hopps was certain her promotion to lieutenant was less of an actual acknowledgement of her skills as an officer and more of a public relations statement. The photoshoot with the mayor and media blitz was a dream come true for recruitment. Frith knew the department needed bodies, but Hopps resented being put on a pedestal she wasn't completely sure she'd earned. Sure she'd been involved in a lot of very serious cases in her two years at the department but she couldn't help feel that her rise was catapulted by more than just her determination and talent.

It didn't earn her any friends at the precinct, that's for sure.

It wasn't that Hopps disliked any of her fellow officers, it was more that she felt that none of her peers had the same drive that she had. And why would they? None of them were subject to condescending remarks about their size or blue jokes about rabbit reproductive proclivities.

Still, one of these days Bogo was going to get tired of her inability to find a partner and there was going to be trouble.

But in the meantime she had a case to look into, as dull as it promised to be. Investigate a warehouse by the docks that was getting suspicious supplies. Bogo wouldn't have sent her out if he didn't think there was some possibility of something going on, but most of the time these tips were just ended up being wild goose chases.

Judy sighed as she stopped her cruiser at a red light. At least that was nice, she didn't have to troll around in that meter-maid buggy anymore.

She idly began flipping through stations on the radio:

" _Look out kid_

_You're gonna get hit_

_But losers, cheaters_

_Six-time users… "_

Hmm, isn't this the guy her Dad liked? Derek, or Dylan or something …

_"… Lookin' for a new fool_

_Don't follow leaders_

_Watch the parkin' meters."_

If only they did. It'd make parking duty a lot easier. She turned the dial.

_"… turn back time, to the good old days_

_When our momma sang us to sleep but now we're stressed out"_

Too close to home, she thought and turned the dial.

_"I won't give up, no I won't give in_

_'Til I reach the end and then I'll start again_

_No I won't leave, I wanna try everything_

_I wanna try even though I could fail"_

Judy smiled. She remembered how much she adored this song when it came out a couple years ago. It was practically her anthem for moving to Zootopia. It was the first track on her old jogging playlist and always got her pumped and excited for the day.

But sitting behind the wheel with a head full of worries and a mountain of stress on her small shoulders, Judy thought the song a bit naïve.

It's not the trying that's the problem, she thought, but what happens after that. How do you make the world a better place when it seemed to be getting progressively worse?

The light turned green and Judy turned onto a long thoroughfare that wound its way towards the docks.

Judy had been on patrol with Officer Hirsch - a rather unimaginative white-tailed deer - when they'd gotten their first 'savage' call. Judy would never forget the sight of the snarling otter, foaming at the mouth and clawing and scratching at pots and plants in the shop in a fury. Every time his collar went off the otter would screech and lunge for the nearest bit of cover to hide under. They'd remembered their training and managed to tranquilize the otter without injury, but Judy couldn't get the image out of her head.

It was the otter's eyes, she realized. There was no thought behind them. Just anger, pain, and a feral cunning. It set off a whole suite of instinctual alarms and warnings in the rabbit's mind that she didn't know she had. In the split second before her training kicked in, Judy had been afraid she was about to go tharn.

They were up to nearly a dozen cases of savage predators now, and there was no sign that they were slowing. The afflicted predators weren't linked by species, by gender, or by anything that gave the ZPD an avenue to investigate. It just seemed that suddenly, random predators were going completely insane.

A similar spate of attacks had occurred 25 years ago, and the city had devised the tame collars as a way to keep everyone safe. And it had worked. In the intervening years there hadn't been any cases of predators going savage.

But clearly, something had changed. The ZPD was desperate to find out what and maintain some appearance of control over the situation. Every officer and detective was working double time to figure out what was going on.

So where do they send the "Star of the Department" Lt. Hopps?

To investigate suspicious deliveries in a warehouse.

This was the most important case in decades and she was being sidelined with busywork.

Judy growled in frustration and pulled her cruiser into the parking lot of a clinic just up the road from the warehouse.

"I am a real cop. I am a real cop. I am a real cop."

She hit her head against the steering wheel with each repetition.

She rested her head against the wheel for a few seconds before straightening and looking herself in the eye through the rear view mirror.

"Come on, Judy. The sooner this is done the better." The rabbit coached herself. "Hey, at the rate you're advancing they might make you a detective after this!"

She gave a sad laugh at the joke, opened the door to the cruiser, and hopped down. Locking the cruiser behind her, Judy made her way towards the clinic.

Maybe someone there knew what was going on in the warehouse.


	7. Not That Simple

_"You know how you let yourself think that everything will be all right if you can only get to a certain place or do a certain thing. But when you get there you find it's not that simple."_

_― Richard Adams, Watership Down_

* * *

The fox felt like he was trapped in a whirlwind of insanity. Nothing had made sense all day. Or - if it did have some semblance of reason - it was followed up immediately with something so mind-bendingly impossible that he was left reeling.

Just when he thought he'd recovered from whatever the hell happened in that apartment and that bizzaro conversation with the wolf, he'd found what he thought was a stroke of good luck: the back of Finnick's van. The fennec must have gotten tired of waiting for him down by the warehouse and pulled into his usual lunchtime hideaway in an alley between two apartment buildings off Sahara Square.

The fox thanked his lucky stars and made his way quickly across the street. When he reached the back of the van he took a minute to compose himself. As he heard the muffled drone of daytime television from the inside of the van, the fox brushed down a few clumps of auburn fur that had gotten out of place during his frantic sprint away from the apartment and then took a deep breath to steady his nerves. The last thing he needed was for Finnick to pick up on his distress and give him crap about it. No, what the fox needed right now was for something, anything to go to plan.

The droning of the TV stopped just as the fox reached up and knocked on the back of the van. He had leaned on the back of the van and waited.

After a couple of seconds the back door flew open and there stood the sandy furred fennec.

"There you are Fin!" The fox said with a practiced air of nonchalance. "You would not believe the day I'm having."

The fennec looked quizzically at him for a minute, as if unsure about something.

"Nick?" Finnick asked, clearly surprised.

"Who else?" The fox answered. "Now hurry up and get your costume on. We've got a job to do!"

Nick expected his partner to grumble his usual protests and then go diving under the passenger seat for the elephant costume. Instead the fennec continued to stare at him intently, studying his features as only a practiced con-mammal could.

"What, did I grow an extra tail or something?" Nick twisted exaggeratedly to look down at his bushy tail. "Nope, still only got one."

Not even an eye roll, Nick noted. Great, so much for everything going normally…

"This for the fuzz?" The fennec said suddenly. "Cause I ain't about to be a stoolie. You hear?"

It took Nick a minute to parse the fennec's question.

"What are you going on about, Fin?" Nick lazily crossed his heart with a paw. "I can assure you, my dear fellow, that I have only the purest of larcenous intentions."

The fennec glared.

"That's a no, big guy. Now come on get changed." Nick gave a mocking grin. "Don't want to be late for your 'birthday' pop, right?"

Finnick's expression wavered between confusion, his usual surly expression, and surprise. He looked as though he were trying to make a decision about something. Nick was about to open his mouth to ask about it when the conflict playing itself out on the fennec's face abruptly resolved.

"Fine. Give me a minute." The fennec grumbled and shut the door to the van.

Nick let out a breath he hadn't been aware he was holding in. Maybe things were back on track. If they could just scrape together a bit more cash he could pay off Koslov and not end the day being run through an industrial fish deboning machine.

If he could just make it through the day …

Easier said than done, he thought.

Finnick reappeared at the back of the van dressed in his elephant costume.

"Alright, where we headin'?"

"Actually, it's right around the corner here. Ever heard of Jumbeaux's?"

The two foxes made their way down the street in silence and Nick was grateful for his partner's disinterest in small talk. Right now, he was lost in thought trying to piece together the fragments of the day's events.

Of all the things that had happened, the one memory that constantly thrust itself into the forefront of his mind was that picture of the vixen and her kit. He **knew** it couldn't possibly be his mom. But he also **knew** that it was. He couldn't resolve the two contradictory feelings, and the dissonance was steadily grinding the cogs in his mind to a halt.

He was so lost in thought that he almost had to scramble to avoid a truck that was pulling out onto the street in front of him. The driver - an irate ram – shouted an angry "Watch where you're going, **fox**!" to which Nick glared and threw his arms wide.

Nick scolded himself for being so careless. Gotta get my head in the game, he thought.

"Huh, déjà vu." Finnick said as the two foxes watched the ram drive off.

The fennec turned to Nick.

"So … you're sure about this? Are you good?" You

"Never better, pal." Nick lied, and then asked. "Why the concern all of a sudden … you going soft on me?"

Finnick snorted, "Ha! That'll be the day. Just remember if you screw this up, I still get paid."

"Fin, if we screw this up getting paid is going to be the least of our problems."

Finnick raised an eyebrow at that, but Nick continued.

"Alright. Now just work your charms, and I'll work my magic."

Nick gave Finnick a wink and said:

_"Shake paws, count your claws,_

_You steal mine, I'll borrow yours._

_Watch my whiskers, check both ears."_

Without a second's thought or hesitation Finnick finished:

_"Robber foxes have no fears" [1]_

It was an old saw among foxes, an incantation whispered in hushed tones by those embarking on errands of mischief deep into the domain of lady luck. Finnick was surprised – not that Nick knew the rhyme, every fox did – a simple job like this hardly warranted invoking that ancient rhyme.

Nick nodded solemnly to the fennec, and before Finnick could say anything, stepped through the doors to Jumbeaux's Café. Everything was going according to plan.

At least it would have if Nick had been able to put into action. Instead the shopkeeper had taken one hard look at the fox and literally thrown a jumbo pop over the counter at him. The two foxes rushed from the café, not eager to curse their good fortune.

On a normal day Nick would have dismissed the unusual ease with which they got their prize.

But a cold dread - the tingling almost itching feeling of something being wrong, fundamentally out of place – set the fur on his hackles on edge.

Nick made an off-hand remark to Finnick about how easy the hustle had gone, and reached into his pocket for a small scratch pad where he made cryptic notes about his cons and hustles. There was a rational explanation for this he was sure. They'd probably hit this place before and that was why …

**"NICHOLAS PIBERIOUS WILDE!** "

* * *

_But what if there were one suit store for all mammals?_

"Bullshit Nick! I know you better than you know yourself."

_Me and my boy have a plan, we have a location, and we have a dream!_

"You're a good mammal Nick, whether you believe it or not. You stood up to Bogo for me. You saved my life and nabbed Bellwether with a trick I couldn't have come up with in a million years."

_All we need is a loan to make it happen!_

"And then you spent months at the academy busting your tail to become Officer Nick Wilde, first fox on the force and Valedictorian of his class. And why? Because a dumb bunny asked you to be her partner."

_It's not Zootopia … It's Wilde and Son's Suitopia!_

"And I'll be damned if whatever the hell happened to you gets in the way of that. So you're going to tell me what's gotten into you and why you're wearing the collar."

_Need a suit? Suitopia welcomes you!_

_How dare she._ A frigid, glacial rage had been building in Nick throughout the conversation. _Who does she think she is? After what they've done to me?_

The fox felt the cold fury ignite, a low growl building in his throat. His pulse quickened, and his collar be damned. Nick took a deep breath and …

_No_. _Never let them see that they get to you_.

Nick stood and turned to face the rabbit.

* * *

"Who the hell are you? Cause you ain't Nick."

Nick felt the conviction behind the diminutive fox's words and was dumbstruck.

Though it strained him, he could rationalize away the apartment, the wolf, and the shopkeeper. But Finnick, his best friend? His only real confidant?

While his conscious mind struggled to process the fennec's words, the carefully constructed mask that he wore to shield himself bid his mouth to move and words to issue forth.

"Oh, is that right? Since everyone's an expert today, who the hell am I then?" Nick snapped.

The fennec looked genuinely pained, a look mirrored by the rabbit standing behind him.

"I don't know, Nick … I don't know."

Suddenly Nick saw the fennec that was standing in front of him, and not the fennec he was hoping to find. A fox familiar and unfamiliar to him, wearing a face of concern and …

Not wearing a collar. How had he missed that?

If ever there were a mammal in Nick's mind that validated the need for predators to wear collars, it was Finnick. The fennec's short temper and predilection for electrical correction were one of the few things that Nick could count on.

But here he was, standing before him without a collar. And yet he seemed the same as he always was.

"Listen, Nick. We're worried about you. Let's get that collar off, and then we can figure out the rest, OK?"

The rabbit's voice was soft and wavering. The fennec and the rabbit wore mirrored looks of concern, of worry.

They were genuine. And this was the most unreal thing Nick Wilde had ever encountered.

Not one, but two mammals who were more concerned about him than anything else.

This was all the proof Nick needed to know that he was in a place he did not understand, in a world that he did not belong to, and in the company of those who wore familiar guises but were at once impostors and saints, caricatures and paragons.

The fox fell to his knees.

"Help me … please."

* * *

[1] – Brian Jacques - If you liked Zootopia, you owe it to yourself to look into the Redwall series. Seriously, if nothing else you'll never look at scones and cheese the same way again!


	8. Inquiring Rabbits Want to Know

_"No! Please! I'll tell you whatever you want to know!" the man yelled._

_"Really?" said Vimes. "What's the orbital velocity of the moon?"_

_"What?"_

_"Oh, you'd like something simpler?"_

_― Terry Pratchett, Night Watch_

* * *

"Two thirty eight, two forty … forty four, forty six … fifty …"

Nick had almost forgotten how satisfying it was to count through the earnings of a hard day's conning … almost.

But as nice as the familiar sensation was, it was coupled with something new and uncomfortable. Something that he'd learned to protect himself from in his old life.

Guilt.

It wasn't that he felt that he'd done anything wrong; on the contrary Nick had always made a point of bending the laws of the city, never breaking them. And most importantly, nobody ever got hurt from one of his cons. But he couldn't help his thoughts turning back to a certain grey rabbit who would be extremely upset with him.

He pushed the guilt and the memories – _You know, I think you'd actually make a pretty good cop …_ – out of his head and resumed counting.

"And another four makes 256 bucks and a … OH MY GOD!"

Finnick nearly swerved the van into the oncoming lane at Nick's sudden exclamation.

Nick held up a small card that had found its way into the stack of bills, flipping it through his fingers with an ease that belied years of practice.

"A 'buy one get one half off' coupon for Buga Burgers!"

Nick pocketed the card and winked at Finnick.

"Lunch is on me tomorrow, Finny."

"God damn it, Nick!" The fennec groused. "Are you trying to get us killed?"

Nick chuckled, pleased at the reaction.

"So Finnick," Nick said after a moment passed. "I assume that'll be enough to pay back Mr. Big?"

"Koslov, Nick. Big's just his enforcer. And yah, it should be."

Nick felt his eyebrows raise themselves. What else was backwards?

"Can't believe he called the loan due before we even opened," Finnick growled in annoyance and turned to point at Nick. "See, this is why I told you not to …"

The fennec trailed off and turned his attention back to the road.

"Anyway," Finnick continued. "We only needed a couple hundred bucks more. Unless there's some other string we missed, we should be square."

Nick nodded and began looking out the passenger window. As the two foxes made their way through Savanna Central, Nick felt like he was playing a city-wide game of 'Spot the Difference.' The streets, buildings, and even businesses were all the same. And though different, the collars visible around every predator's neck were obvious enough. But it was the small things that kept drawing his attention, in the same way that an unfamiliar object or swift movement seen out of the corner of the eyes in a dark place draws your attention.

A lion walking down the sidewalk, back hunched, moving quickly and skittishly, eyes darting rapidly from place to place. The mighty huntress of the savannah practically jumping at her own shadow.

A couple of wolves carrying shopping bags, nearly run over by a small herd of sheep who weren't watching where they were going. The wolves recoiling, bending to pick up their spilled bags before an irritated ram shoved them off the sidewalk into the street. The two predators standing on the asphalt, tails tucked between their legs, as the herd trampled past.

A brown bear at a bus stop, standing quickly and leaving the bench as a brown-furred rabbit approached the stop, only daring to sit back down when the rabbit passed by.

_They're acting like prey_ , Nick thought.

Or at least the fearful stereotype thrown about when no prey were around to hear it, Nick corrected himself.

_This is what Bellwether wanted._

Nick was pulled from his dire musings by the buzzing of his cellphone. He reached into his front pocket, withdrew the phone, and was briefly startled by what he saw.

The round face of Officer Benjamin Clawhauser looking supremely satisfied, the fur around his mouth absolutely covered in pink frosting and sprinkles. Nick had candidly snapped the photo on his first week on the force, and he could still remember how Judy had burst into laughter when he had showed her. In-between tears of laughter, she had tried to grab his phone to delete the embarrassing picture. Instead he set it as Clawhauser's contact photo. Now whenever he got a call from 'Spots', he'd hold his phone out to Judy and her laughter would spring forth again.

"You gunna answer that or what?"

Nick realized he'd been staring at his phone through three rings, and quickly answered.

"Hey Benji, what's up?"

"Nick, we've got a major problem at the clinic." The cheetah said on the other end.

Finnick's hearing made it all but impossible to have a private conversation so Nick didn't bother to fill in the fennec.

"Oh great … What's going on?"

"That bunny cop – you know, the one that ticketed you? – she's here asking questions about you and the warehouse."

"Damn it." Finnick swore.

* * *

Lt. Hopps groaned in annoyance when she got to the front of the clinic. The double glass doors that led in were sized for mid to large sized mammals, and since they opened outwards the handles were just out of reach. Normally in situations like this she'd hop up, grab the handle of one door, and push off the other with her hind paws before dropping down and scampering inside before the doors closed. Most mammals larger than rabbits would find the display amusing or downright adorable. Exactly the kind of image she was eager to avoid.

Sometimes she really envied larger mammals.

_To them, it's a door. To me, its an ordeal!_

She took a moment to glance into the lobby of the clinic. It was empty, save for the stocky cheetah sitting at the front desk. He had his nose buried in a book of some kind and looked lost in thought.

_Thank Frith for small mercies!_

The door made a small ringing noise as it was opened and Judy quickly dived in hoping the feline hadn't noticed. For his part the cheetah made no move to look up. His focus remained on the book in front of him even as he dipped a spoon into a bowl of what was probably Lucky Chomps, judging from the cereal box on the desk.

Hopps let out a sigh of relief, straightened herself up and strode purposefully to the front desk. When the cheetah did not look up, Judy coughed to draw his attention.

The cheetah absently turned to the next page and reached for a pink mug that read 'I' - followed by a pink sequined heart – 'Gazelle'.

"Uh, excuse me?" Hopps said, trying to keep any irritation out of her voice.

The cheetah gave a start and his gaze shot up quickly to the front door. A flicker of confusion crossed his face when he failed to see anyone, and he began to look around the lobby. He heard someone sigh in exasperation.

"Down here?"

The cheetah slowly leaned over the desk until a rabbit came into view.

"Hi there. Lt. Judy Hopps, ZPD. How're you doing?" The rabbit

The cheetah paused for a second and then slowly said, "Oh. Em. Goodness."

He placed the mug down and shut the book with his other paw.

"They really did hire a bunny …" He paused and then gleefully exclaimed "WHAT!?"

The spotted feline's face lit up in an ear splitting grin.

"I gotta' tell you, you're even cuter than I thought you'd be!"

Judy's smile evaporated.

"Oh, you probably didn't know but … a bunny can call another bunny 'cute', but when another animal does it it's a racial slur."

Clawhauser's ears went flat against his head, and he brought his paws to cover his mouth, eyes wide.

"Oh my god, I am SO sorry. I didn't mean … I just thought … I …"

Judy held up a paw and said, "It's okay. Just try be careful, Mr. …?"

"Clawhauser! Benjamin Clawhauser!"

Judy had to admit, Clawhauser had a very warm and friendly smile … for a predator.

"Well Mr. Clawhauser, I was just hoping to ask you a few questions."

The cheetah's eyebrows shot up and his mouth formed a small 'o'.

"Questions? Uh, yeah sure. Shoot!" Clawhauser laughed and then his eyes suddenly widened. "No wait, I didn't mean shoot! I mean, uh, go ahead!"

The cheetah gave a small, nervous smile.

Judy smiled a bit at Clawhauser's exasperation. Maybe she didn't need to worry so much about projecting an attitude. Poor guy.

"Relax, Mr. Clawhauser its nothing major. I was just wondering if you happened to know anything about that warehouse down the road a ways?"

The big cat's eyebrows furrowed and he said, "The warehouse? Uh, I don't know much. Just that I don't think it's being used by anyone right now …"

Judy was jotting down some notes on a pad as she said, "Not in use? What makes you say that?"

"Oh, It's just that it's kind of a mess don't'cha think? Looks like it's about to fall apart!"

"So you haven't seen anything or anyone come or go from there?"

Judy almost missed the flicker of calculation in the cheetah's eyes, but there was a reason she was gunning for detective.

"Well, I think our land lord might have been down once or twice … But other than that, I can't think of anything!"

Interesting, Judy thought. The cheetah wasn't going to play dumb about the landlord being the same for the clinic and the warehouse. Maybe he was being upfront, but Judy doubted it. He hadn't told her anything that wasn't public record.

"Ah and your land lord is …" Judy flipped through her pad. "A Mr. Wilde, Nick Wilde correct?"

"Yes that's right."

"Has Mr. Wilde mentioned anything about the warehouse? Why he bought it, what he's planning to do with it … anything helps!"

The cheetah scratched the back of his head and appeared to be thinking about the question.

"Uh, I'm sorry I don't think he has … Nick's generally doesn't talk much about things like that to me."

"I see. Is there someone he does talk to? About things like that?"

"He might talk to Dr. Badger about it. She's the one who pays the rent. Maybe they talk about that kind of thing?" The cheetah offered with a sheepish smile.

He then asked quickly, "Lieutenant, is everything OK with Nick? Is he in trouble or something?"

"I'm afraid that I can't really comment on that … " Judy said apologetically.

"Oh." Clawhauser said gloomily. "Well, I hope everything's ok. He's a really nice guy, you know!"

Hopps recalled quite keenly the bite of the fox's sarcasm. He'd mocked Hopps viciously as she cited him – an act of petty rebellion she supposed – and she was all too happy to hand him the traffic ticket and part ways.

"I'm sure he is!" Judy said through a fake smile.

Judy studied the cheetah. Besides that brief look earlier, the cheetah seemed to be pretty forthright. So he was either what he appeared to be – clueless and well-meaning – or he was crafty enough not to trip up. Maybe there was another angle she could try.

"You mentioned a Dr. Badger?"

"Oh yes! Dr. Madge Badger – though she always has us call her 'Honey'. You know, like 'Honey Badger'? She's super nice too!"

Judy scribbled the name down.

"I assume she's in? I didn't see any other doctor's name on the front."

"Uh, yeah! She's just in the back."

Judy leaned forward in anticipation.

"So … can I talk to her?"

"Oh, duh! Silly me … Let me just go and get her!"

The cheetah stood up and went briskly into the back of the clinic, closing the door behind him.

The lieutenant looked at items strewn across Clawhauser's desk. She smiled and shook her head at the pink Gazelle mug. That seemed to fit his bubbly personality.

She glanced at the book the cheetah had been reading as she walked in. It was a large blue hardback titled _The Principles of Quantum Mechanics_.

That was … not what she was expecting. Judy flipped the book open and read a passage at random.

_"The eigenvalues of the Hermitian matrix H are real quantities which have a physical interpretation as energy levels. If the factor i were absent, the H matrix would be antihermitian and would have purely imaginary eigenvalues, which is not the traditional way quantum mechanics represents observable quantities like energy."_

Anti-what now? And I thought cops had a lot of jargon, Judy thought.

Judy's ears shot up as she heard a faint noise from deeper in the clinic. Her ears swiveled quickly to face the door Clawhauser had stepped through and she could just make out a hushed conversation.

"… asking about?"

"Nick and the warehouse."

"Oh great, just what we needed."

_Boom_ , Judy thought. _Probable cause_.

"Wait Honey … You should take that tin-foil hat off first."

"Nuh-uh, cops are agents of the sheep! For all we know …"

"It's the bunny cop."

"Oh, okay. Nevermind."

Judy was instantly annoyed. Nevermind what? Just because she was a bunny? What did that have to do with it anyway?

Wait, did she say tin-foil … oh boy. This should be interesting.

The door to the clinic opened and Honey and Clawhauser stepped through it.

Still dressed in her camo gear underneath a white coat, Honey stepped around the desk and held out a paw.

"Lieutenant! It's a pleasure to meet you. What can I help you with?"

_Oh nothing._ Judy smiled and shook the badger's paw. _You've done plenty already._


	9. Reverb

_"Life was such a wheel that no man could stand upon it for long. And it always, at the end, came round to the same place again."_

_― Stephen King, The Stand ―_

* * *

"No chief, that's what I'm trying to tell you. Nick **IS** the fox with the collar."

Bogo groaned and brought his hooves to massage the headache gathering at the base of his horns.

_Hopps, why is it that nothing is ever simple with you, hmm?_ The chief complained internally.

_I assign you parking duty, and you chase a weasel through Little Rodentia._

_I ask you to find me an otter, and you come back with the mayor …_ _**twice** _ _._

_I ask you to find a partner, and you choose a known con-fox that you've somehow managed to convince to join the Academy._

_I make the mistake of putting you two together and give you a simple patrol downtown, and what happens? You show back up at the station with the leaders of a catnip ring stuffed into the back of your cruiser._

_And now this._

"So let me get this straight, Hopps. Wilde has a shock collar around his neck. You caught him running a con with a former associate. You confronted him and he seemed 'uncharacteristically agitated' and 'emotionally unbalanced'. And you're in the back of an ambulance with Wilde and the fennec on your way to have him evaluated at Zootopia General."

"Yes sir, that's right."

"Hopps, how the hell did we get here?"

There was a pause on the other end of the line.

"I ... I don't know, sir. Nick's isn't … I mean he hasn't been making sense. It's like he doesn't remember anything that happened before the Night Howler case. He's acting like … like …"

The buffalo didn't need to be a rabbit to hear the hitch in Judy's voice.

* * *

Bogo was one of the few mammals who knew the whole story of how Nick and Judy had met and solved the case. The good and the bad.

In the aftermath, Bogo had been surprised and intrigued when Wilde had submitted an application to join the force. In anticipation of the fox's interview, the buffalo had compiled a thorough dossier on the fox's activities; Judy's recommendation carried substantial weight with the chief, but the buffalo was not one to trust easily. Bogo intended to confront the fox with his past in order to gauge his mettle.

But true to the reputation of his species, the fox was full of surprises. Nick had swaggered into Bogo's office, took one look at the pile of manila folders on the chief's desk and laughed.

"Won't be needing those, boss."

"Oh?" The buffalo had peered over the edge of his desk. "Is that right?"

"Oh yes." The fox had said with a smirk as he climbed into the chair in front of the chief's desk.

"Listen chief, I've got a pretty good idea of what we're doing here, so tell me if this sounds familiar…

"You did your homework, and dug up a bunch of my old history. History you were going to throw at me and see how I explained away my 'dubious dealings'. First time we met you made it clear that you didn't have a very high opinion of foxes, and I doubt whatever's in that profile did much to change your mind.

"But Carrots sure as hell proved you wrong about the worth of rabbits, and whatever else you are you're not proud. If you were wrong about her, you could be wrong about me."

The fox smiled smugly.

"I mean, I did just help save the city from a psychotic sheep who was looking to pit predators versus prey in a good old fashioned race war …

"So you'll give me a chance, if only to ease your guilt for setting Hopps up to fail. But, you're not expecting much hence the stack of dirty laundry."

"That sound about right?" Nick had leaned back in the chair and crossed his arms, looking decidedly self-satisfied.

Bogo had snorted in irritation.

"But like I said you won't need it."

The fox's smile faltered.

"Because I'll tell you exactly who I was and who I am."

And so Nick did, leaving nothing out. If anything he was harsher on himself than the dossier was.

When he was finished, the fox had looked Bogo square in the eyes. The chief saw the intensity that flickered there. Here was a mammal – lost in the desert and dying of thirst, who had stumbled on an oasis.

"Now let me tell you who I want to be."

* * *

Bogo pressed the intercom button on his handset.

"Clawhauser, I need a cruiser ready to take me to Zootopia General in ten minutes."

Without waiting for a reply, the chief returned his attention back to the call.

"Hopps, it's clear that something serious has happened to Officer Wilde. I'll be there in twenty."

"Y-yes sir!" Judy said, quickly regaining her composure.

"And Hopps?"

Again there was a pause.

"Yes, chief?"

"If I understand what you're saying, then you need to know that Nick is not himself right now. Those collars do things to mammals. The best thing you can do right now is be there for him."

"Yeah, ok … Thanks chief."

Bogo grunted and hung up the phone.

* * *

Nick wondered if he was going mad. This gave him a small measure of comfort.

He supposed that if he truly had gone mad, he wouldn't have the presence of mind to question his own sanity.

He shivered at the thought and drew his hind paws up to his chest, wrapping his paws around them. Like most public buildings and movie theaters, the air conditioning in Zootopia General seemed to be permanently set to 'Arctic Blast'. Normally his fur would help take the edge off the chill, but he was dressed in a barely concealing paper examination gown. He wished he'd spent more time in Tundratown; maybe then he'd still have his winter coat.

Looking absently around the room, Nick couldn't help but compare the room to the clinic by the warehouse. They'd definitely nailed the decorating sense, at least.

Nick looked around for a clock, but could find none. It felt like he'd been in here for an eternity and the waiting was killing him.

The last thing he wanted was to be left alone with his thoughts, for they kept turning back on themselves in a vain effort to understand the day's events. He was no closer to any kind of understanding, and the questions seemed only to multiply.

If he could just do something … like he had with the Popsicle job. At least he could focus on that, keep the image he'd seen in the apartment out of his head.

A knock sounded at the door to the examination room.

Nick knew that knock, its cadence.

The door opened and the squat form of a badger – dressed in a white coat over green scrubs, and carrying a clipboard – stepped into the room.

"Officer Wilde?" The badger smiled pleasantly. "My name is –"

"HONEY?" Nick gasped.

The badger gave a start and blinked in surprise.

"Uh … If you don't mind, I'd prefer Dr. Madge Badger, Officer Wilde."

She studied him for a moment, before continuing.

"I've got some good news for you. All the tests we've run have come back, and you're in excellent health."

Nick stared at the badger. Sure, her fur was better kempt and she wasn't wearing camo, but it was definitely Honey. Just like the fennec was definitely Finnick, and the vixen in that picture was definitely...

"Um … Officer? Are you there?"

Nick's attention snapped back to the badger.

"Uh, sorry doc. I guess I'm not feeling like myself."

Honey glanced down at her clipboard and then back at the fox.

"Yes, your partner is very worried, and said as much."

Nick scoffed, "I doubt that, he's never been one for getting sentimental."

"No, I meant Officer Hopps."

Nick shut his eyes and brought a paw to rub at the bridge of his muzzle. "Right, of course. How could I forget?"

Honey looked quizzically at Nick.

"Well, in any case … I think you've been wearing that horrible collar for long enough, don't you?"

Nick's eyes snapped open.

The badger leaned forward a small metal key in hand. Nick recoiled briefly, but then watched Honey intently. The doctor reached behind Nick's neck and he heard a soft _click._ The collar fell loose, and Honey pulled it away from the fox revealing the unnaturally thin fur underneath.

Nick's gaze was fixed on the badger and it radiated disbelief. Slowly, as though unsure of himself, Nick brought his paw to rub the fur of his neck.

It was bliss.

"Thank you ... thank you."

The fox spoke softly and his words were soaked with gratitude. The doctor was momentarily at a loss.

"So, uh … what's next doc? Can I get my clothes and get out of here?"

"Clothes yes, but we're going to keep you overnight for observation. But you shouldn't get too bored! Your partner's dying to see you."

The badger walked to the door, stopping to pause in the opening and peering down the hallway.

"Oh, and it looks like your mom just arrived!"


	10. Empathy

_"Every man is guilty of all the good he did not do."_

_― Voltaire_

* * *

Nick hadn't been able to process the ramifications of his situation fully, and doubted that he even be capable of it for a long time. In lieu of a full out panic attack, Nick had opted to focus instead on the things that were more or less the same – Finnick, Clawhauser, the hustles – and slowly work out the things that were new and unknown – Honey, the collars – one at a time.

But that was going to be possible if he ran into Judy.

No, the rabbit was the foundation of his life these days. He'd latched onto her optimism, her determination, and her trust in him like a drowning mammal clutches at a life raft. She believed in him and encouraged him when he needed it most, and Nick felt he owed her a debt that he could never fully repay. And because of it, the normally risk-adverse fox had made the biggest gamble of his life: he threw away the life he'd been scratching out for twenty years for a moon shot at something better.

All because she had asked.

And it had worked. Nick knew he was a happier and better mammal, less mired in self-doubt and looking to the future for the first time in his life. He had a job he loved and was proud to do, friends (actual friends!) and co-workers that cared for him, and he – the good for nothing, shifty fox – found that mammals were starting to look at him with a measure of genuine respect. And it was all because a dumb rabbit refused to stick to society's plan and dragged him off script with her.

The pessimist in Nick couldn't help but feel that everything he had was just a house of cards, though one admittedly built on the rock solid foundation that was his friendship with Judy Hopps. A foundation that he didn't ever imagine would falter in the slightest.

But the events of the day had shaken him to his core. He'd been holding out hope – irrationally, he knew – that this was all still some crazy dream. That he'd wake up, call Hopps, and everything would be fine and he'd have a wacky story to tell.

But he knew that this Judy, this other rabbit wouldn't be the same. The phone call he'd had this morning had been running through his head on repeat like a sitcom in syndication. But so long as he didn't **see** her, he could still pretend.

And that was about to change, and Nick was terrified.

"Nick, I don't see anything in the parking lot … do you?"

Finnick was slowly creeping his van down the lane that led off the thoroughfare to the clinic and warehouse, craning his neck to try and catch a glimpse of the rabbit's cruiser.

When Nick didn't respond, Finnick glanced back at the larger fox. Nick was anxiously fidgeting, his ears flat against his head, glancing around everywhere but towards the clinic.

"Aw hell … Get yourself together, will ya? It's just one copper, and a bunny at that."

Nick looked back at the fennec with an annoyed expression that quickly shifted into a pained one.

"It's not that. Its … "

The red fox gave a heavy sigh.

"She's my partner, Fin."

Finnick's eyes went wide and he stared mouth agape at Nick.

"Partner? So you two were like, shacked up or somethin'? I mean I didn't know you have a thing for -"

"Oh geeze … no Finnick, not like that!" The fox interjected quickly. "On the force. We're partners on the force. Nothing else."

Finnick had heard Nick use that tone before; he'd said the last like he was reaffirming something to himself. The fennec sensed he shouldn't press this, but couldn't resist the chance to tease the smug fox.

"Easy there, I don't give a shit how you get your jollies. Just surprised is all."

"Finnick, I just said-"

"Whatever man, don't care. So you worked with Lieutenant Thumper then?"

"It's Hopps, and yes." Nick smiled wistfully, "Best cops on the beat, thank you very much!"

"Right …" The fennec said skeptically, "So what's she doing here then?"

"How should I know? I worked with my Hopps, not …"

Nick fell silent, and turned to stare out the window away from Finnick.

Finnick frowned and shook his head.

"Listen. I don't know what fairytale dream world you come from, but the fuzz ain't any predator's friend. So don't get all soft on me, alright? This whole shindig was your … was 'other' Nick's … "

The fennec growled in annoyance. He was not getting paid enough to deal with this sci-fi bullshit.

"Lots of predators have put a lot into this crazy scheme, and for once I think it actually stands a chance of working. But the police – your bunny included – will shut us down in a heartbeat if they get wind of it. And then we'll all be behind bars."

Finnick reached out to Nick's shoulder and turned him to face him.

"You think the shock collars are bad? Try paying a visit to the prison sometime. You'll be thankful for what you've got."

Nick had been down to the penitentiary as part of his duties before. It was not a pleasant experience, and he had thanked himself for not being stupid enough to get arrested in his old life. But as bad as it was, Nick had a pretty strong suspicion that whatever Finnick was talking about was worse. Much worse.

Nick shuddered and said, "Its fine, Finnick. I get it. I'm not about to blindly launch myself into a crusade for justice or anything … That was more Carrots' thing anyway."

Finnick nodded, satisfied.

"Alright, now let's go see how bad we're screwed."

* * *

When Finnick and Nick pushed open the doors to the clinic, they were greeted with the sight of Honey standing on Clawhauser's shoulders waving what appeared to be a metal detector with an assortment of gadgets and widgets out of the 'Stye's Electronics' bargain bin duct taped to the end of it. The cheetah wore a colander on his head, and was desperately trying to keep his balance as Honey waved the apparatus to and fro along the roof of the clinic. When the two foxes entered, the cheetah looked at them pleadingly.

"Nick! Finnick! Give me a hand here?"

Nick quickly looked around and – failing to spot any lapine lawbringers – couldn't help but laugh at the strange scene in front of him.

"Whoa! Take it easy there Egon … Tell me that's not an unlicensed nuclear accelerator!"

"Hardy, har Nick." The badger grunted. "I'm sweeping for bugs. This moron left everyone's favorite rabbit cop alone in here for at least three minutes. Plenty of time to wire the place."

"Honey, what was I supposed to do? I wanted to warn you about her." Clawhauser whined.

The badger ignored the complaint but (to his visible relief) hopped off the cat's shoulders. She put on a pair of orange tinted glasses and adjusted a dial on her strange technological totem.

"Huh, no bugs. Or they're using the ultrawave frequencies … "

"Honey, I've told you that's not how that works!" Clawhauser groaned.

"Shush, Ben. You all laughed at me when I insisted we get the clinic walls lead-lined, but nobody's gotten mind controlled on my watch have they?"

"And here I was thinking you were just a Doctor." Nick said, bemused.

"I'm a badger of many talents, Wilde. You never know when everything's going to come crashing down around you. At least I'll be prepared."

Finnick – who had been standing with eyes closed, paw pinching the bridge of his short muzzle, and shaking his head – gave a low growl.

"Enough with the badger and cheetah show. Where's the flatfoot?"

"She left … pretty quickly too. Didn't really ask that much."

That didn't make sense, Nick thought. Judy was not one for half-measures.

"Well what did she ask?" The fennec pressed.

"Asked about Nick, if I knew anything about the warehouse, something about deliveries."

"And what did you tell her?" Finnick did nothing to keep the accusatory tone out of his voice.

"Oh please, short stuff. Gave her the innocent doc routine and she bought it." The badger looked sidelong at Nick. "So much for 'best cop on the force' I guess."

Nick ignored the jab, shaking his head.

"I doubt that. If anything she'd ask too many questions."

So why hadn't she?

Honey raised an eyebrow and looked to Finnick. Finnick returned the look and shrugged.

"So … are we good?" Clawhauser asked hopefully.

Nick scratched at the back of his head. He felt like he was missing something obvious.

"I didn't give her anything." Honey said, "Don't think she's got a warrant or anything."

Finnick looked between Nick and Honey. The fennec seemed lost in thought for a moment.

"Fine." Finnick said after a moment, "Madge. Go get the rest of the cash for Koslov. He'll be here soon."

Honey looked curiously at the fennec, surprised at his initiative. Then she nodded and headed for the back of the clinic.

"Ben, any word from Fangmeyer?"

Nick's ears perked up at the name.

"Uh yeah, he called earlier." Clawhauser said, "He said his pack will be ready for tonight."

"Good," Finnick said. "Why don't you start getting things set up at the Times."

The fennec glanced at a clock on the wall.

"If we're going to open on time, we'll need to get a move on."

"Sure." Ben said, "I'll just go get my things."

The cheetah turned to follow Honey, but paused briefly and gave Nick a worried glance.

The fox smiled and waved him off.

"I'm fine Spots, really."

The cheetah nodded and walked into the back of the clinic.

Nick looked to Finnick, who stood arms crossed studying him.

"You're taking point, huh?" Nick smiled wistfully, "Been awhile. Just like old times."

"Old times … yours or mine?" The fennec asked.

"Look, Finnick I really don't have any answers here."

"Yeah, I know." Finnick said, "You also don't know what we're doing, do you?"

"Running a theme park, I thought."

Finnick shook his head.

"It's more than that. Its …"

Finnick trailed off and looked at his feet.

"Dammit, I just know you're going to get a big head over this …"

The fennec looked Nick square in the eyes.

"Look, Nick this thing we've made … it's important. I don't know how you came up with it, but it could really make a difference."

This was about the most serious Nick had ever seen Finnick. Nick furrowed his brow in confusion.

"I don't understand, it's just a bunch of rides and games right?"

Finnick gave a quite laugh and shook his head.

"No, Nick. Not quite."

The door to the clinic opened and Honey, followed closely by Clawhauser, came through holding a woven bag which she handed to Nick.

Nick opened the bag and his eyes widened when he found it was loaded heavily with bills, thousands at a very rough glance.

"Just in time, it looks like." The badger said when Nick looked up. He noticed she was looking past him.

A black limousine was pulling into the parking lot of the clinic.

"Koslov."

* * *

_Morons_.

Hopps couldn't help but chuckle when she spotted the familiar brown van pull into the clinic parking lot.

_Really, you'd think these criminal types would have at least some degree of intelligence. But no … show up and ask questions, give them a show of incompetence and boom. They freak out just enough to bring everybody scurrying back but not enough to call anything off._

She raised her binoculars and watched as a small sandy furred fox hopped out of the driver's side. He pulled off his sunglasses, hooking them on his collar and started towards the clinic. Halfway there he paused, and turned back to the van. The passenger side door opened and Judy saw a flash of red.

_There you are! Not so sly now, are you?_

Judy watched as Nick straightened himself up. The fox looked around pensively and she could see the fennec say something. Nick nodded, glanced around and started walking to the clinic.

Hopps watched the fox intently. There was something different about him, Judy noted. He was moving cautiously, a careful air present in every step. Gone was the smug, charismatic con-fox she'd seen before. She was seeing something new. Here was the real Nick Wilde, the real predator. She could see his ears twitching and turning about and she watched with fascination as he sniffed the air about him.

A long forgotten voice rose up within that screamed, FOX! She suppressed the urge to stamp out an alarm, and shook her head in irritation. There were times when she really hated her rabbit instincts, especially in cases like this. She never let them control her, but she hated the moment of hesitation they could bring. In her job, that could mean the difference between life and death.

Idly she wondered if a predator's instincts would serve her better. She **was** basically stalking a pair of mammals.

Judy raised her binoculars again and she saw the fennec reach the doors to the clinic. After letting out a sigh of frustration visible even from Judy's vantage he hopped up, grabbed the handle of one door, and pushed off the other with his hind paws before dropping down. Nick stepped up and grabbed the door to keep it from closing.

_Poor fennec, I know what's that's like._

* * *

For a cop, sympathy was a dangerous thing ... especially for predators.

Judy had struggled with it at first. After all, the impetus for her career had been her desire to make the world a better place for everyone.

She'd even stood up for Gideon Gray while the rest of her peers took turns trying to provoke him into setting off his collar. They had been cruel, and Judy couldn't stand by and let something so hateful and wrong happen. After a few black eyes and scratched noses, the fox's tormentors had fled.

Gideon never forgot it.

They were never too close – she was a bunny, he a fox – but Judy and Gideon had been friends. Gideon was a really nice, sensitive mammal underneath it all. This flew in the face of everything she'd been told as a kit, everything her less tolerant friends and family said whenever 'that Gideon Gray' came up. And the tolerant ones? They thought it was nice that she was taking pity on the fox, but warned her not to get too close. He was a predator, after all.

Judy remembered the last time she'd seen Gideon. It was the night of her high school graduation, and Judy was heading across campus having just left the celebration the school was hosting in the gym. It was a beautiful, warm summer night, and the moon was full in the sky. So it was easy to spot the lone figure of a fox sitting on one of the bleachers by the soccer field.

Judy had walked to meet him. As she approached she could see him staring up at the stars above him.

"Hey, Gideon." She'd said.

The fox had jumped, but then smiled softly when he saw her.

"Oh hey there Judy. How're you doin'?"

Judy had smiled brightly.

"I'm doing fantastic! Can you believe it? High school's finally over!"

Gideon paused, and then looked back up to the stars.

"Yeah, I reckon it is."

Judy wasn't expecting the tinge of melancholy in the fox's voice.

"What're you looking at, Gid?"

"Oh, nothing. Just the stars is all. Sometimes I like to come out here and take a gander … helps me think."

Judy climbed up into the bleachers and sat next to him (but not too close).

"What'cha thinking about?"

Gideon looked down at his paws.

"Oh, I dunno. Just the future, I guess."

The fox had turned to look at Judy, the full moon twinkling in his blue eyes.

"I reckon you must be getting ready for the academy, right?"

"Well, college first … but yah! It's been my dream forever."

Gideon stared into the distance, and the two were quiet for a moment.

"What about you? What's next for Gideon Gray?"

The fox looked startled for a moment, and then glanced nervously at Judy.

"I can't say I rightly know …"

"Oh come on, Gid. There's gotta be something!"

Gideon had fidgeted uncomfortably for a minute.

"Aw, shoot. You're probably gunna laugh …"

"Never! Gideon, you know I wouldn't."

Gideon smiled and nodded.

"No, I don't suppose you would. I was … well I was thinking …"

The fox looked away from the rabbit.

"Maybe I could start a business, you know … cooking pies and baked goods and things."

"That's an excellent idea!"

Gideon had been startled by the rabbit's enthusiasm.

"You think so?"

"Of course! It's something you're really good at, and people around here love baked goods."

"Yeah … just not foxes."

Judy had started to interject when Gideon interrupted her.

"It's ok, Judy. I know how it is."

The fox had stood up and stretched.

"Well, it's getting late and I best be off I think. It was real swell seeing you Judy."

Gideon had walked down the bleachers, and when he reached the bottom he stopped and turned to face Judy.

"And, Judy … I just want to say thanks. You've always been awful kind to me. You're going to be a great cop."

Judy had smiled warmly at the compliment and waved the fox a cheery goodbye.

A few months later Judy got a call from her parents. After they had interrogated their daughter to be sure that she was happy and doing well in her new collegiate career they had delivered the news, almost offhand.

Gideon Gray had killed himself.

He'd struggled to find someone, anyone who'd take him seriously, who'd help finance him. And when that failed, he'd struggled to find a job anywhere doing anything. And when that failed, he'd struggled to find a reason to keep going at all. And when that failed, there was nobody there to help him.

Judy cried the entire night, her tears leaving a dark stain on her pillow that she only saw when the sun peaked over the horizon.

She felt responsible. Surely nobody would blame her, but still … she wished she could have done more, seen the signs, anything. Gideon hadn't deserved what he got. How could she make the world a better place when she couldn't even help someone who was ostensibly her friend?

It was this guilt that helped fuel her through the academy.

But at the academy they taught you not to feel sympathy. Cops were there to keep mammals safe and to enforce the laws, not be friends. And after class after class about the history behind the shock collars, and how predators were prone to go savage at any moment, Judy began to wonder if Gideon had just been a special case.

It was an idea that seemed to hold more and more merit after meeting Wilde, and especially after the savage otter.

But Judy could never quite let herself believe it, and so the sympathy remained.

* * *

The fennec scampered into the clinic and Nick stepped forward to follow. He paused briefly in the door way, and turned to scan the outside again. The fox looked in her direction – his green eyes flashing in the sun – and for a moment Judy was certain he could see her. But his gaze turned to something else and after a second he slipped into the clinic.

Judy looked at her watch. Right about now they'd be trying to figure out how much she learned. Once they decided she didn't learn anything they'd go back to whatever it was they were doing. With a bit of luck one of them would head over to the warehouse and she could follow them and maybe catch them in the act.

All she had to do was wait.

_Thumpthumpthumpthumpthumpthumpthumpthumpthumpthumpthumpthumpthump…_

She was not good at waiting. Judy sighed in frustration. If she'd had the foresight to grab her headphones she could at least listen to music to pass the time.

But, Judy didn't have to wait nearly as long as she thought before something happened. Just a few minutes after the two foxes entered the clinic Judy first heard and then saw the limousine pull into the clinic parking lot.

_Now this is interesting._ She thought.

 


	11. Ghost of the Living

_"If I were hanged on the highest hill_

_Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine!_

_I know whose love would follow me still_

_Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine!"_

_—Rudyard Kipling_

* * *

Nick had long ago become a master of detaching himself to become a spectator to events around him and the feelings of his body. It was a practiced and practical defense to separate himself from any strong emotions that might trigger his collar. Eminently useful for a con-fox; emotions you could avoid feeling were emotions you didn't have to pretend not to feel.

But as much as he wished to, he couldn't seem to pull himself away.

His gaze had not wavered from the door after the badger who should have been Honey had left. His pulse – already beating fast – doubled when he saw the handle to the door start to turn.

The handle slowly spun a half rotation.

The door opened just a crack.

It opened wider still and a figure – red and violet – quickly stepped through.

She was standing in front of him, infinitely more real and tangible than his most precious half-remembered memories.

His mother.

Nick's brain re-allocated all available resources to focus on processing the impossible. While everything else dimmed, his perception of her grew to a stark and unsurpassed clarity. It was though all the world was slowly falling away like fog in the morning sun.

She wore a simple purple blouse, one Nick suddenly realized he remembered. She'd held him against it to comfort him from a nightmare. He remembered her wearing it at night when she read him stories of Robin and Reynard, Mattimeo and Matthias, Coyote and Anansi, El-Ahrairah and Hazel.

She was older than he remembered – which of course made perfect sense, but surprised him all the same. The fur around her muzzle had begun to lighten where gray strands mingled with vivid auburn. But her eyes were undimmed and bright, a brilliant green – just like his. Nick had learned to turn his eyes away from his father when the older fox was in low spirits, their likeness to his mother's a painful memory.

The vixen looked into Nick's eyes and her sight pierced through every veil, every defense and deflection he had. She was looking at him – the little kit he hid away from the world, the one who bitterly wished he'd known his mother.

"Oh my poor kit …"

The vixen closed the distance between them in two swift steps, wrapping her arms around a stunned Nick. One of her paws pulled his head to her chest and she nuzzled the top of his head with motherly affection.

"What fool thing have you gone and done this time, Nicky?"

Nick was unable to move, unable to do anything but watch in horrid fascination as the many barriers between him and the swell of his emotions began to crack and crumble. This was it, he was going to trigger his collar.

As the vixen tightened her embrace, Nick slowly brought a paw to his neck.

There was no collar, nothing to punish him for daring to feel.

And so the last barrier fell away.

Nick vision blurred. He tentatively brought his paws up to return the embrace. When his paws were met with the warm and tangible form he could hold back no longer. He clutched desperately at the vixen and he let out a choked sob that was quickly followed by a stream of tears.

Nick wept on the vixen's shoulder, deep sobs that burst from his core and shook the embracing foxes.

"It's you … it's really you." He whispered in disbelief.

The vixen leaned back and brought her forehead to Nick's.

"Of course it is. Do you have so little faith in your mother?" The vixen said softly. "You may have gotten away from me once, but never again. You're stuck with me, you know."

She had intended this to comfort him, to provoke one of his teasing quips. Instead, he clutched at her all the harder.

"What's the matter, Nicky? I'm here." She cooed, "What happened, huh? They wouldn't tell me."

Nick met her gaze, shaking his head in disbelief.

"It's you … How can it be you?"

With some difficulty she pulled back and looked at Nick, the worry on her face developing into a deep unease.

"Nicky … what are you saying? I'm here. It's okay."

"No, you don't … I can't …"

The vixen brought her paws to either side of Nick's head, holding his head to force his gaze to meet her's. She gazed, deep and with unabashed compassion and concern into Nick's eyes.

"Nicholas … what is it? Are you hurt?"

Nick closed his eyes, shaking his head. His mouth opened and closed as he made several attempts to speak, each catching in his throat.

"I was there when they buried you."

Nick opened his eyes and his mother saw sorrowful, pained astonishment.

"Dad held me close. I didn't understand. I asked him when you'd be coming back …. He didn't answer."

"J-John?"

Nick saw the confusion in her eyes.

"He did his best, Mom. But once you were gone, nothing was the same…"

He felt a dam break inside him and the words rushed out.

"I love you, Mom. I love you so much. I just wish you'd been there.

"But you were gone. We missed you … We missed you so bad."

Tears again sprung forth as Nick held his mother's gaze.

"And he tried, Mom. He tried so hard … I saw it, Mom. I saw it. But in the end they took him and it was just me.

"I couldn't do what he did, Mom. I didn't even try. I just … I made the best of it and muddled through.

"But now you're here, a-and I don't understand…. I-I can't understand. And I don't care.

"You're here … Oh Mom, you're here…"

Nick clutched at her, burying his muzzle into the nape of her neck.

"Nicholas, I will always be there for you. You know that…"

The vixen kissed the top of Nick's head.

"I don't know what you're saying. I'm fine, Nicky. I'm very much alive…

"But John's been gone for years, Nick … I miss him too, but he's gone.

"I want to help you, that's all I've ever wanted. So please, tell me what's happened."

Nick shook his head.

"No, no … You don't understand. You were dead!"

Nick held the vixen at arm's length.

"I spent the last thirty years without you … and as much as I want to believe I imagined the whole thing, I can't. Ok? I can't.

"But you're here … how are you here?"

The vixen took Nick's paws in hers.

"Nicholas look at me … Look at me!" Nick reluctantly met her gaze and she continued, "None of that matters. I'm here – really here – and I love you. I promise you, I'm going to do everything I can to help you."

She said it with the same surety with which she used to banish monsters. The same conviction that had filled her voice when she had promised her little kit that she'd always be there for him.

And then she had gone.

But now she was here.

"Mom … am I going crazy?"

The vixen laughed quietly.

"Nicky, you've always been crazy. First the Ranger Scouts, then you hid from me for twenty years because you thought you were a burden … and now you're a cop? The **first** fox cop. And not only that, you're one of the best on the force from what I hear… "

She brought a paw to Nick's muzzle, gently stroking down the side of his face.

"You've done things I'd never thought possible. That's what's crazy, Nicky. And I couldn't be more proud of you if I tried."

She placed a tender kiss on Nick's cheek.

Nick shuddered at the contact. He leaned forward and held the vixen in another embrace.

He was an impostor. He hadn't done those things, any of them. Whoever she was proud of … it wasn't him.

His thoughts were going in circles. He **knew** this was his mother, and yet he couldn't possibly be the son she spoke of.

She pulled back from his embrace and smiled warmly at him.

"Alright. Enough delaying, Nicholas. What happened to you?"

Nick brought a paw up to scratch at the back of his head.

"It's uh … it's kind of a long story. Where do you want me to start?"

Nick's mother turned briefly to look at the now-detached collar that rested on the counter of the examination room.

"Why don't you start with how you got that horrific thing."

When she glanced back at her son she was met with a troubled expression.

"Ok, um …" Nick gathered his thoughts, "I was six years old when they came. They were going to force it on me themselves, but Dad … he begged them to let him do it. When he went to put it around my neck he told me that it was only a temporary thing."

Nick looked at the collar, his lips curling in contempt.

"I guess he was right after all."

* * *

"Officer Hopps?"

Judy bolted upright out of a maelstrom of worries. She quickly looked up to see who had called her name.

"Hi there, I'm Dr. Madge Badger. We've … well we've met before."

Judy stared blankly for a full minute. The badger gave a sheepish smile.

"I was helping Mayor Lionheart … at Cliffside. You uh, arrested me."

Judy blinked.

"Uh, right. Yes I remember you." Judy said, "I'm just surprised to see you."

The badger nodded. "I got lucky. Lionheart vouched for me. All I got was community service. Say what you will about the lion, but he really does care about mammals. Just not quite as much as his image."

She gave a small laugh, "And I'm a doctor. I'd like to think I've spent my career serving the community. I'm more than happy to work at a soup kitchen, legal requirement or no.

"I swore an oath to help mammals, Officer. Just like you. I don't regret what I did, I just regret that I wasn't able to figure out what was wrong.

"I want to thank you. None of us would have thought of the Night Howlers. You saved those mammals, you know. We all owe you an enormous debt.

"So when I heard that Officer Wilde was brought in, I had to be the one to help."

Judy considered this for a moment, and then smiled.

"Thank you, doctor, but I don't blame you; Bellwether played us all."

The badger nodded.

"That's kind, Officer. I appreciate it."

Madge flipped through a couple pages in her clipboard.

"Nick's listed you as one of his emergency contacts, so I thought I'd give you an update on his condition."

Judy's ears shot up and she stood in rigid attention.

"Is he alright?"

"Well, physically he's appears fine. Now that his collar's off we can do a MRI and see if something else is wrong."

Judy heard the familiar thunder of Chief Bogo's footsteps echoing down the corridor, and sure enough the Cape buffalo rounded the corner a moment later.

"Officer Hopps. Doctor." The chief said by way of greeting.

"Ah, Chief. I was just telling Officer Hopps about Nick's condition."

"I see. Go on." The chief grunted curtly.

"Right. As I said, Officer Wilde appears fine. Physically at least. We'll know more after we do an MRI, but I don't think that will turn up much. At this point, I'm not sure what could have caused the behavior Hopps and the fennec described."

The badger paused for a minute, looking briefly between the rabbit and buffalo.

"I did recognize the serial number of the collar, however."

Judy and Bogo exchanged a look of surprise.

"It's from Cliffside." The badger said solemnly, "I made sure that they never got used, but there was a crate of them in storage at the asylum."

The chief furrowed his brow in thought. After a minute he rumbled, "Thank you doctor. That's very helpful. We may have some more questions for you about Cliffside later. In the meantime, may we see Officer Wilde?"

The badger nodded, "Of course. He's in A113. You just missed his mother, she's in with him right now."

Bogo nodded and started tromping down the hallway.

Judy paused and laid a gentle paw on the badger's shoulder.

"Thank you doctor. Nick's really important to me. I'm glad he has a doctor as dedicated as you looking after him."

Madge smiled sadly.

"Thank you, Officer. That means a lot."

"Please, call me Judy."

The badger's smile brightened.

"Ok. Thank you Judy. Now go see to your partner."

Judy nodded, and skipped down the hallway after Bogo.


	12. Honor Among Thieves

_"I work my whole life, I don't apologize, to take care of my family. And I refused to be a fool dancing on the strings held by all of those big shots. That's my life, I don't apologize for that."_

\- _Don Corleone, The Godfather_

* * *

Nick swallowed nervously as he stepped through the front doors of the clinic, clutching the bag of lucre close to his chest. Honey and Finnick had done a good job of impressing upon the fox how seriously Koslov took his loan payments. Of course, Nick already had a pretty good idea – after all, the Koslov Nick knew was Mr. Big's chief enforcer. Nick had no desire to be dangling over a pit of super-cooled water for a second time.

Nick walked cautiously towards the rear of the limousine. Months of traffic patrols had fostered in Nick a habit of scanning and quickly memorizing license plates. He did a double take when he read the plate of Koslov's limousine.

29THD03

_What do you call a three humped camel?_

Nick shuddered and chased the memory out of his head, but couldn't stop his pulse from quickening. He felt clammy, and he heard a soft _beep_ issue from the collar around his neck. Glancing briefly, he could see that the small LED on his collar had turned from green to yellow. Nick stopped dead in his tracks.

There was no way the collars wouldn't shock a mammal for getting too scared, right? If a predator were in a situation where they feared for their life, an untimely shock could get them seriously hurt or killed. Surely the collars wouldn't!

But how would the collar be able to tell fear from anger?

Nick shook his head to clear his thoughts and focus on the task at hand. As he did so he saw the driver's side door open and a tall figure step out.

Nick expected a polar bear, but the figure – while tall and solidly built – was much lither than a polar bear, its tail long and thing and its fur a jet black. Dressed in a suit, the distinctly feline form of Renato Manchas turned to regard Nick with his emerald eyes.

"Mr. Wilde, it is very good to meet you. Mr. Koslov is waiting."

The panther's voice was deep, the cat practically purring his words. He had the same slight accent that Nick remembered, bringing to mind the likes of Antonio Pantheras. Nick didn't imagine that Manchas had any trouble with the ladies.

Nick walked up to the side of the car pausing before a black tinted window. Staring back at him was a reflection that Nick didn't recognize. The disheveled fox who looked back at him lacked the same smug confidence and charm that Nick had seen every morning as he stood in front of his bathroom mirror. No, the fox looked haunted.

Nick had little time to ponder this, for the glass began to slide down with an electric whir revealing the dark interior of the limo. A cool rush of air accompanied the sliding window and Nick's fur stood on end.

The looming form of Koslov sat in the back of the limo. Opposite from him sat Raymond, another polar bear Nick recalled without much fondness. Both glowered at Nick.

Well … time to do the hustle, Nick thought.

Nick leaned onto the car nonchalantly, his elbow dipping below the inside of the window. His eyes half lidded and a smug half grin on his face, the fox looked as though he hadn't a care in the world.

"Koslov, my old friend. How ya' doin'?"

Koslov arched a brow and looked at Nick for a minute without saying anything.

"Koslov is well, but has little patience for pleasantries." The polar bear rumbled finally.

"Oh course not!" Nick said and proffered the bag of bills. "I believe this is yours."

Koslov took the bag and opened it before peeking inside. He tossed it to Raymond, who withdrew the cash and began to count it.

"This is the big night, is it not? Time to see if your gamble has paid off, huh?"

Unsure of what to say, Nick simply nodded.

"I believe it will. You are clever, zhulik - always have been. But I do not think it will be easy."

Koslov inquisitively looked to Raymond, who having finished counting the bills nodded in affirmation.

"You see. Pays bills on time. Would that there were more predators like you, Kolya."

Raymond opened a bulky suitcase that sat on the seat next to him. Inside the suitcase contained a large pile of bills and the bound form of a small mammal who bolted upright when the suitcase opened.

"OKAY, I'M A WEASEL!" The bound mammal cried, "There … I said it. Please! J-Just hear me out-"

Raymond unceremoniously chucked Nick's money into the suitcase and slammed the case closed. The muffled shouts of the weasel could be heard for a few seconds. Nick stared at the case, eyes wide and mouth open slightly.

"He was … not as timely in his payments, I think." Koslov said by way of explanation.

Nick swallowed thickly.

"Anyway, point is this. Zootopia does not like change. Has a way of crushing fools who try.

"Koslov has power because 'they' let Koslov have it. Alternative is less predictable they think, so here I am. Keeping the peace.

"But I am no fool, Nikolai, nor am I heartless. I want you to succeed. Predators need to stick together if we wish to survive. But I am unsure if the powers that be will allow your operation to proceed. Only time will tell."

Koslov gave Nick a very serious look.

"So be careful. I cannot protect your operation, nor would I try. I have my own interests to look out for."

"Of course." Nick said.

"But Koslov is loyal to those who have done him a good turn. Mammals like you, Nikolai."

The polar bear held out a small business card to the fox. Nick took it and looked it over. The card read "Koslov's Family Dining in Tundratown" and on the front was a picture of Koslov, a broad smile on his face and his arm wide in welcome. On the back was an address and business phone number.

"You have problem you call, yes? Need body to disappear or maybe need to make body, you call."

Nick blinked owlishly. "Sure thing."

"Very good." Koslov nodded and turned away from Nick.

Nick made a move to leave, only to be suddenly grabbed around the neck by Koslov's massive furry paw.

"Stoy, Kolya!"

Nick was yanked forward into the limo and Koslov leaned in closely.

"There is one thing I must ask you Nikolai. A very important thing. Do not lie to me."

Nick's collar gave a soft beep and he could hear the booming voice of his drill instructor at the academy.

_You're dead, bristle-butt!_

Koslov narrowed his eyes and looked at Nick menacingly. After what seemed an eternity, Koslov broke into a wide grin.

"Morris wants to know if you are coming to his next birthday. He wants his tenth to be as good as his sixth."

The polar bear released Nick with a laugh, the fox falling back onto his feet outside the limo.

"I kid, I kid. Hah, poor Kolya. But seriously, Morris misses you. Come visit sometime. The small, big-eared fox is welcome too of course."

Nick smiled sheepishly and rubbed his neck around the collar.

"You got it Koslov."

The polar bear smiled his toothy smile and then turned to the front of the limo.

"Voz'mite nas domoy."

The window began to slowly rise and Nick heard the engine of the limo start. A moment later, the car pulled out of the parking lot and turned onto the thoroughfare leading away from the clinic.

* * *

"Oh god, I can't watch." Clawhauser wailed, "Tell me when it's all over."

Finnick, Honey, and the cheetah were watching as Nick got yanked into the limo.

The three predators gave a shared sigh of relief when Nick was released and the limo began to pull away. They watched Nick dust himself off and start walking back towards the clinic.

He casually strolled through the doors and raised an eyebrow at his three friends.

"What? I told you I've got this."

Finnick shook his head.

"Alright Nick, alright. Let's just get on with it."

Finnick looked at Honey and Clawhauser.

"Madge, Fangmeyer's pack should be here soon. Wait here and let them in when they show up."

"Sure." Honey nodded.

"Come on furball, let's go start things up at the Times."

"Alrighty!" The cheetah said sunnily, turning to walk deeper into the clinic.

Nick glanced between Finnick and Ben.

"Isn't it out that way?" Nick pointed to the clinic's doors.

Finnick smiled.

"Not quite Nick, follow us."

* * *

Hopps watched the limo pull away from the clinic through her binoculars. She pulled out her notepad and scribbled a quick note. She'd have to check the license plate when she got back, but she had a pretty good idea who it belonged to.

If Koslov was mixed up in this, then things were definitely not as innocent as the badger at the clinic was pretending. The mafia boss had his paws in a lot of underhanded dealings in the city, but nothing overt enough to get himself arrested.

Judy wondered what was in the bag. Drugs? She didn't think that likely. It was probably money, but for what? She could just imagine what the fox would say: 'Services rendered, darling.'

The rabbit sighed and trained her binoculars on the clinic. Wilde had gone back inside, deeper into the clinic with the cheetah and fennec. She'd already gotten a lot of intel, but if she wanted to get anything else she'd have to check out the warehouse. She briefly considered radioing back her findings, but decided against it. At this point she had a lot of suspicions, but nothing concrete. She'd need hard evidence of something before she called it in.

Judy glanced at her watch. It was nearly 5:00 in the afternoon, the sun just beginning to sink low on the horizon. It was still bright enough out, but quickly the light was tinting gold and amber. If Hopps wanted to get something before dark she needed to get a move on.

Judy put the strap of her binoculars around her neck and looked down to see the best way to climb down. She'd posted herself up in a tree across the road from the clinic with enough foliage to help conceal her but still give her a good view of the clinic and parking lot. As she took her first step down she paused, large ears twitching towards the thoroughfare.

A black SUV was just pulling off onto the road leading to the clinic. Judy quickly fished her binoculars out in time to see it pull into the clinic parking lot.

Five timber wolves – two white, two grey, and one black furred – got out of the car. All five were dressed sharply in dark navy pea coats and slacks and quickly formed up around the black furred wolf. The black furred wolf was clearly in charge, Judy noted, and he seemed to be older than the rest. With a wave of his paw he indicated the clinic and the rest of the pack began to walk towards it. The black furred wolf paused for a moment, his gray eyes looking around cautiously.

Judy held her breath when the wolf seemed to make eye contact with her through her binoculars. After a moment, the wolf looked away and turned to follow his pack into the clinic.

Judy let out her breath and chided herself for her foolishness. She was smarter than these predators, there was no way anyone saw her. She climbed down from the tree and quickly set off to the warehouse. She had probable cause to investigate the property in spades, and as she headed towards the den of iniquity she wondered what she'd find inside.

A smuggling ring? Maybe a mafia safehouse?

Judy smiled to herself.

_Detective, here I come._


	13. Premonition

_"I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity."_

_― Edgar Allan Poe_

* * *

"Wow, truly amazing."

Nick stepped into the closet and spun around dramatically.

"I mean, no wonder everybody's so worked up. I mean, look at this …"

He grabbed a mop out of a bucket that sat in the corner of the tiny room and held it up.

"It threatens to destroy the very fabric of society!"

Nick turned to Finnick and Clawhauser with a mischievous grin on his face. The cheetah was trying hard not to laugh and the fennec's mouth twitched in something deceptively similar to a smile.

"So I take it you didn't take me to the basement just to wow me with a broom closet?" Nick asked through a smirk.

"Third shelf, dumbass. Behind the bleach." The fennec replied.

Nick raised an eyebrow and turned to look behind him. The back wall of the closet had a set of shelves mounted into it. A wide variety of cleaning and medical supplies were stacked from ceiling to floor. Nick looked to the third shelf, craning his neck to look behind a couple jugs of bleach; a small switch was mounted on the back wall. Nick glanced back at Finnick and Clawhauser quizzically, before flipping the switch.

With a deep bass _thunk_ the back wall of the closet slowly swung away from the fox revealing a long, spacious tunnel behind. Nick was immediately reminded of a mineshaft; bright lamps were hung from sturdy wooden crossbeams that were spaced regularly down the length of the tunnel. The walls were reinforced with corrugated metal and the floor was poured concrete. Thin metal poles were evenly spaced down the middle of the floor strung together with hempen rope, dividing the tunnel into two lanes.

"Well then … How far to the enemy lines?" Nick asked wryly.

Clawhauser giggled at the joke and Finnick pushed past Nick to start down the tunnel. Nick swung his arms and bowed slightly to the cheetah in an 'after you' gesture. The cheetah returned the gesture, to which Nick shrugged and turned to follow the fennec.

The predators walked quietly down the tunnel which began to curve to the right.

Nick looked around idly, and saw that the walls were adorned with hand painted murals depicting a variety of scenes: A pride of lions, standing watch over the veldt. A pack of wolves loping through a dark misted forest. A tiger in the depths of the jungle, ready to pounce. A cheetah sprinting across the savannah. All of them shared a theme: predators in their natural habitats, un-collared and noble. And they all looked to have been painted by the same artist, someone familiar.

"Fin … Did you paint these?"

The fennec looked over his shoulder at Nick.

"Yeah. Wasn't gunna help you dig, was I?"

"I dug this?"

"You helped. It was mostly Honey though. She had a whole crew of badgers come and help. It was one heck of a sight." Clawhauser said cheerily.

The predators turned onto a long section of tunnel that ran straight, and Nick saw a series of signs hanging from the ceiling. The fox read them as the predators walked towards a door at the end of the tunnel.

_Get_

Read the first sign, a smug fox – who Nick was certain was Finnick's depiction of him – grinning behind the text. It was a surprisingly flattering image, and Nick was once again impressed with the fennec's artistic talent.

_Ready_

The second read.

_For_

The third; the fox was winking and pointing out of the picture.

_Some_

Finnick came to a stop at the door at the end of the tunnel.

"Oh that's right! Nick, you haven't seen this have you?" Clawhauser asked, his exuberance barely contained.

Nick shook his head to the negative. The smile that sprung forth on the cheetah's face was bright enough to have been mistaken for an oncoming train.

"Hold your breath, make a wish, count to three …" Clawhauser said, his grin taking a mischievous cast.

Finnick groaned and held a paw to his face.

"Come with me …. And you'll be …" The cheetah sang.

With a surprising grace and deftness Clawhauser danced to the door and beckoned Nick to follow. Amused, Nick stepped past the fennec up to the cheetah.

Ben winked and pushed the door open.

"In a world of pure imagination …"

**WILD TIMES!**

The sign was enormous, Nick's smug smile perfectly captured, easily visible from any point of the interior of the warehouse. Though one could scarcely have called what Nick saw a warehouse; it was a warehouse in the same way that a Model T and the Saturn V rocket were both 'vehicles'.

Nick was awestruck. He'd seen every ride, every stand, and every decoration before, but only in his mind's eye and never in the world of the waking. The brightly lit neon signs, the tiki hut full of refreshments, the massive roller coaster that wound its way amongst the dozens of attractions that Nick had conjured up in as he lay dreaming in his bed.

It was all here. Exactly as he imagined.

Nick couldn't believe it, and stood dumbfounded.

Clawhauser's round face edged into his vision.

"So … Pretty cool, right?"

Nick looked at the cheetah, mouth agape. The fox pointed into the warehouse, and stammered.

"T-this … how? You … There's even …"

Nick leapt passed the cheetah to run into the center of the park.

"Oh my god, you've got everything! The Roar-A-Coaster! Ha! Look at it!"

Nick spun to the left.

"The Cheetah Run! And the Ball of Yarn Pit!"

Nick spun to the right.

"The Otter Slide! And, oh you didn't actually make the Jump N' Stick did you … HA!"

Nick turned to Finnick and Clawhauser, beaming a wide grin full of joy. The cheetah was living vicariously through Nick, and Finnick was watching him in bemusement.

"You've even got the Lazer Tag and is that … yes! Oh my god, that's the Howl Along!"

Nick turned to his two friends.

"This … this is amazing. Everything I imagined!"

Nick failed to notice that Finnick was now looking at Nick in concern; the fennec had seen the light on Nick's collar turn from green to yellow.

"Nick …"

"I've got to try the coaster! I always imagined there'd be a loop and … THERE IT IS!"

Nick pointed excitedly before bringing his paws to his head, wheeling to turn to his friends.

"Guys! This is – "

**BZRAAAP!**

The shock wasn't anywhere as bad as the last. Finnick and Clawhauser saw Nick's face contort at once into surprise and then confusion.

Nick had brought a paw to clutch at the collar. There was a pregnant pause.

"What the hell, is this thing broken?" Nick growled.

The fox looked to the fennec and cheetah, their sad expressions speaking volumes.

"It's not, is it?"

Their silence was all the confirmation Nick needed.

"I'm sorry Nick. This is all my fault, I shouldn't have worked you up like that." Clawhauser apologized.

"Your fault?" Nick shook his head, "How is this your fault?"

Clawhauser looked to the floor, his paws, anything but Nick.

"So let me just see if I've got this straight. These collar shock you for feeling too much of anything? Anger, fear, happiness … love?"

Neither Finnick nor Clawhauser made eye contact with the fox.

"How do you live with this? This can't be right … Do they know?"

Only Finnick looked up at Nick, sorrow in his eyes.

"No, they do know don't they. But they just don't care …"

Nick turned to look back into the warehouse, his eyes lingering on a kiosk near the door with a sign reading "Collar Check." The kiosk had dozens of pegs in the wall, and Nick realized what they were for. The collars.

Nick spun and looked back at Clawhauser and Finnick.

"So that's what this is. That's what you meant …"

Nick's vision began to blur under a swell of emotion. When his collar again beeped at him, Nick was not surprised. Just more confirmation.

_Never let them see that they get to you._

Nick slowly turned to look at Finnick. It all made sense. The clinic, the secrecy … everything.

"I get it now. This **is** important." Nick shook his head and looked back at the park. "Thirty years … and this is all they can look forward to?"

The charm and wonder had worn off, and Nick began to see the Times for the rough operation that it was. The screen for the 'So You Think You Can Prance' machine was an old CRT TV that belonged in the 80's. The Laser Tag guns were just water-pistols with laser pointers duct taped to them.

But none of that would have mattered, Nick realized. Just as he had been overcome with the sight of the Times come to life, predators who spent decades with the collars would be overcome with the sudden freedom. They'd think a rocking horse was an adrenaline soaked thrill ride.

"How much are we charging?"

"$19.95. Kids under twelve get in free." Clawhauser said.

Wow. They were going to make a fortune.

Wait a second … _Kids_? Nick's blood froze.

"Good god tell me they don't put these on kids." Nick begged.

Again, Finnick's and Clawhauser's expressions were all the answer Nick needed.

"When? How old?"

"When they turn six." Ben said sadly as he fidgeted his long tail in his paws, eyes cast down.

"What the hell could a six year old do for fuck's sake!?" Nick snarled, looking rapidly between the cheetah and fennec.

His collar beeped in reproach, and Nick struggled to stifle his rage. He brought both paws to his forehead, and breathed rhythmically for a minute.

"Wow. And I used to think **I** had it bad." Nick said dryly once he'd calmed down.

"Ben, why don't you go get in uniform. I'll go start the generator. And Nick … half of what we're selling here is your 'charm.'" Finnick made air quotes and gestured to the many grinning foxes drawn on every sign in the park.

The 'You Must Be This Tall' sign featured Nick holding out his paw to the side over a very unamused Finnick. Nick grinned behind an old-fashioned camera in the giant "Smile!" sign that told riders of the Roar-A-Coaster a picture was eminent. Everywhere Nick looked he was met with his own green eyes and grinning visage.

He felt a comforting paw on his waist.

"Take your time, kid. But we need you in top form."

Nick closed his eyes, sighed heavily and then nodded.

"The show must go on …"

* * *

Three mammals were listening intently as the fox sitting on the hospital bed spoke. So rapt were they, none of them noticed when Dr. Badger approached. Madge coughed loudly to draw their attention.

"Mrs. Wilde, Chief Bogo? Can I speak to you for a moment?" She asked.

The vixen looked back at her son and then to the doctor nervously.

"It's okay, Mom. Go ahead." Nick assured her. "Officer Hopscotch here will look after me."

Nick's mom nodded, squeezed her son's paw tenderly and then followed the Cape buffalo out into the hallway.

When the two stepped into the hallway, the badger gestured for the chief and vixen to follow her across the hallway into an empty examination room. Bogo raised an eyebrow at this and looked down at the fox who walked beside him. They shared a look, and Bogo gave a small sad smile. It was a frank departure from the stern and gruff mammal Mrs. Wilde had seen before, and she realized Bogo was telling her that he was just as worried.

Once the badger, fox, and buffalo were seated, Madge reached up and turned on the backlit x-ray illuminator that hung on the wall behind her. She produced an x-ray and clipped it to the box; the chest, arms and legs of a fox's skeleton were bleach white against the inky black backdrop of the image.

"So first off, I wasn't lying. Nick's in good health. We didn't find anything on the MRI or x-ray to change our initial estimate. But we also didn't find anything that could help explain Nick's current mental state."

The badger looked soberly at the two mammals in front of her.

"But, we did find something interesting. Something I can't explain … Mrs. Wilde, Nick broke his arm as a young todd, is that right?"

The vixen frowned as she remembered.

"Yes that's right. He'd gotten into a fight with some mammals at school. I didn't know it had happened for days, Nick did his best to keep it from me. When I finally noticed he told me that he was worried that it'd be too expensive. As if there was something more important to spend money on then my son's health …"

Bogo looked at the vixen sitting next to him in mild surprise. She was describing a side of Wilde that – though the chief had strongly suspected existed – he had never seen before.

"It must have been a bad break." Madge said.

Mrs. Wilde looked pained.

"After so many days it had begun to set wrong, so when I took him in they … they had to break it again." The vixen shuddered at the memory. "He's never been very fond of hospitals since."

The badger withdrew a ball point pen from her front coat pocket and gestured at the x-ray.

"We took this last year when he came in for his physical. You can see the break here: the ulna and radius have healed up nicely, but a break like that leaves its mark."

The badger withdrew another image from her clipboard and clipped it alongside the other.

"And this is the MRI we took a few hours ago."

The badger again gestured at the monochrome image of a fox's bones.

"The bone is pristine. There's nothing here to indicate that there ever was a break."

Madge paused as the two looked at her in confusion.

"Now you may be thinking it was just a fluke, but that doesn't explain these."

The badger's pen drew circles around the images of Nick's ribs, his collar bone, his right femur.

"All of these show breaks. Old breaks, several years at least. And none of them were present in the x-rays we took a year ago."

The badger shook her head and looked down at her clipboard.

"Now my specialty isn't orthopedics, but I showed this to our resident specialist and she concurred. It's like these old breaks just suddenly appeared in the last year."

The badger looked to the chief. "Breaks like that would have prevented him from active duty."

"He hasn't broken anything in the last year. Hell, neither he nor Hopps have so much as taken a day of non-holiday time off." The buffalo groused.

After a minute Bogo asked, "Have you considered running a DNA test?"

"Um … No. Though I suspect the ZPD is better equipped for that then we are."

"Chief, how can you say that? That's my son in there, I **know** it." Mrs. Wilde protested with a fire Bogo had seen before.

 _Sorry, what I said was... NO! She will_ _**not** _ _be giving you that badge._

"I'm sure, Mrs. Wilde. But the old detective in me is forced to consider every possibility."

Mrs. Wilde went to say something, but suddenly thought better of it and fell silent.

Madge looked between the buffalo and fox.

"At this point I'm positive there isn't anything medically wrong with him. No drugs or chemicals in his system, no sign of concussion or cranial trauma. Nothing. The only thing I can do is refer him to a good psychiatrist."

"Wait, you think he's crazy?" Mrs. Wilde asked angrily.

Bogo took a deep breath and was about to attempt to placate the vixen when he was interrupted.

"No I don't." Madge said quietly.

"But you just said-" Mrs. Wilde began.

"That was my opinion as a doctor, Mrs. Wilde. I don't have any kind of physical explanation, so I have to assume that it's mental and refer you to an expert.

"But personally I don't think he's crazy."

The badger sighed.

"Look, I'm not a superstitious mammal. I'm a doctor after all, not a homeopath. But I've had a feeling I can't shake since I saw that collar and realized it was from Cliffside.

"I kept asking Lionheart to find somewhere else to house the savage mammals. Everything about that place just felt …"

"Wrong." The chief grunted.

The badger looked square at the chief, and saw that he knew exactly what she meant.

"Yes, exactly. It's irrational, but I can't help feeling like whatever's happened to Nick has something to do with that place."

"I see." The chief studied Madge in silence for a minute.

In his mind's eye Bogo saw the light glinting off of sharp white fangs, the flash of the leopard's eyes in the dim light, the piercing yowl it gave as it pounced. He heard the sickening crackle as its collar discharged, sending the leopard scrambling. The streak of black and blue as Mike leapt onto the feral cat, screaming at him to tranq the leopard before the wolf was mauled.

The whole affair had been a nightmare, a sojourn to Night's plutonian shore. Everything about it felt surreal. The leopard had appeared as if by magic to haunt the dark depths of the asylum. He'd died in custody a day after being caught after a long and herculean struggle by doctors to keep him alive. They couldn't explain it; every hormone was out of whack, the leopard's body ravaged under the stress until it couldn't keep his heart beating. No answers, only a body. And thirty years later Bogo still wondered about it.

He knew what the badger meant by a feeling she couldn't shake. Cliffside was a bad place.

"So physically he's fine?"

"Yes. We'll keep him overnight for observation."

"Thank you doctor. Mrs. Wilde, do you need a hotel? I'd be happy to have accommodations arranged for you."

The vixen blinked in surprise.

"Oh, no. I drove here, and I don't live that far away … Thank you."

"Mrs. Wilde, Nick is one of my officers. The ZPD looks after its own. Don't hesitate to ask for anything."

"I'm touched … Thank you chief. I'm glad to see my son working with such noble mammals. Maybe it'll wear off on him." She said with a teasing smile.

"Ma'am, Doctor." Bogo said and stepped out of the room.

The buffalo walked towards Nick's room deep in thought. After a minute he stopped, reached into his pocket and retrieved his phone. He quickly dialed and brought the phone to his ear. The call was answered after two rings.

"Mike, I need a favor."

* * *

Michael Fangmeyer paused at the double glass doors to Wilde's clinic.

There was that prickling at the back of his neck again.

He was tempted to turn and look again, but dismissed the feeling as paranoia. He'd already cased the immediate surroundings and saw nothing, so he pulled open the doors and stepped inside. His four packmates had already padded into the lobby of the clinic, and were looking at him for direction.

"Fangs, you old bastard. 'Bout time you showed up."

Fangmeyer chuckled at the familiar voice and turned to see the squat form of Honey behind the lobby desk.

"Honey my dear, still as sweet as your name."

A subtle odor suddenly grabbed his attention, and Fangmeyer was compelled to sniff the air around him. His pack followed suit.

"Why do I smell rabbit?" Fangmeyer asked. "I smelled it outside as well."

The badger rolled her eyes.

"The bunny cop."

"Bunny cop?"

"Yeah, the bunny cop."

"She was here very recently." One of the gray furred wolves – Wolford – chimed in.

Fangmeyer looked back to Honey.

"You had a cop sniffing around? You sure we're good for this?"

The badger shrugged.

"Nick and Finnick seem to think it won't be a problem."

"Alright, fine." Fangmeyer said.

The older wolf turned to his pack and addressed the other gray furred wolf and one of the white furred wolves.

"Larry, Garry. You're working the perimeter. And I swear to god, if I hear one howl or find you two making out again …"

"Not a problem, boss! Don't you worry." Larry said quickly and started pushing Garry towards the door.

Fangmeyer rolled his eyes and the other wolves laughed as the odd couple stepped out into the early evening.

"Alright Madge, take us back."

"Sure thing." The badger said, turning to walk into the back of the clinic before stopping short.

"Wait, Mike. There's something I should tell you about …" She looked sidelong at the other two wolves.

"Nephew, Wolford. Wait in the lobby a second."

Mike followed the badger into the back of the clinic.

"Nick isn't … well, he's not himself right now."

Fangmeyer raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"


	14. Deliverance

_"The lion cannot protect himself from traps, and the fox cannot defend himself from wolves. One must therefore be a fox to recognize traps, and a lion to frighten wolves."_

_― Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince_

* * *

Judy was halfway to the warehouse when the building lit up, light pouring out of windows like an overinflated water bed bursting at the seams.

The lieutenant looked behind her and then back at the building in front of her. She hadn't seen anyone leave the clinic, so there must be other mammals involved. This thing just kept getting bigger and bigger.

She'd have to be careful; if there was someone inside she couldn't just waltz in the front door.

Judy resumed her trek to the warehouse, coming around the back of the building. She glanced around until she found – ah! There it was, the fire escape. It led up to what the rabbit assumed was a second story walkway, probably where the manager's office would be. Elevation would make it much harder for her to get spotted.

Perfect, Judy thought. Now she just had to find a way up.

The ladder on the bottom of the metal catwalk above her was retracted and nearly ten feet above her. This would be a considerable distance for almost any mammal her size (or even several mammals much bigger), but Judy was a rabbit. And not just any rabbit, she was a Hopps. There was a reason her family had that name.

Judy glanced around and noticed a big metal dumpster pushed against the wall to the left of the fire escape and smiled.

She backed up about a hundred feet from the warehouse wall and crouched into a sprinter's stance. Her nose twitched in anticipation until – at the crackle of an imaginary starter's gun – she took off in a streak of gray and blue. Just short of the dumpster she leapt, arcing to the top of the dumpster and immediately using it as a spring board to launcher herself higher. She hit the wall with her hind paws, pushing strongly with first her right and then left paws gain that last bit of altitude she needed. Spinning as she dismounted the wall she shot her forepaws out to grab at the ladder.

A moment of terror seized Judy as the ladder slid a foot down under the sudden weight and momentum of the flying rabbit, but as she clutched the ladder it fell no further.

She scrambling up the ladder and lay on the her back breathing heavily.

"Okay Judy … you're still alive." She panted to herself.

She spent a minute catching her breath. The metal of the catwalk was cool against her, and a warm, salty breeze had begun to blow off the water. It ruffled through the fur on her head, and Judy had to admit it felt nice.

_Come on Judy stop lollygagging, that was the easy part_. She thought, and went to stand up.

Her ears twitched and swiveled to the noise before her conscious mind processed it and she immediately threw herself flat against the catwalk again.

"Did you hear that?"

"Yeah, I think it came from over here."

Hopps froze instinctively. She slowly glanced over the edge of the catwalk and saw two of the wolves she'd seen earlier – one gray and the other white furred – walking towards the end of the warehouse.

"I don't see anything … Maybe it was by that dumpster?" The white furred wolf asked.

"Could be. Let's give it a look. Might just be a raccoon dumpster diving." The gray wolf replied.

"Do they actually do that? I mean, isn't that just a stereotype?"

"It is and they do. Just like us with the howling, you know?"

The wolves were drawing close to the warehouse now. Judy noted that, while they seemed to be chatting idly, they were regularly sniffing the air and swiveling their ears about. Cautious, but not overly so. They reached the dumpster and – finding no raccoons – began to give the area a cursory inspection.

"Well sure, but we howl because it's a wolf thing. Part of our culture. And it's not like our instincts force us to do it …"

The gray wolf turned to his partner and gave him a dubious look.

"Really? So what was all that business back at Shakey's?"

The white wolf growled in indignation.

"Oh come on, Larry. I didn't start that howl." He poked a finger into the gray wolf's chest accusingly. "And for the record, you joined right in. Not a moment's hesitation"

Another warm gust wafted from the harbor. The fur on the wolves' bushy tails and the tuft that poked out from the collar of their coats waved to and fro in the same way that the crops on the Hopps farm did in the summer breeze back in Bunnyburrow.

The two wolves glared at each angrily, each seemed to be on the verge of a snarl. Finally, the gray furred wolf began to laugh heartily, joined a moment later by his companion.

Larry threw his arm over the white furred wolf's shoulders and said, "Relax Garry, I'm only teasing."

"Yeah, well lay off. I already get enough shit from the rest of the pack." Garry groused, suddenly angry again.

Larry put both his paws on Garry's shoulders, and Judy saw a look of concern on the gray wolf's face.

"Garry …" Larry began in the same tone teachers use to coax a confession out of unruly students.

"Oh forget it Lar, I'm fine." Garry said dismissively, and tried to shrug off Larry's paws.

Larry raised an eyebrow in disbelief and held fast.

Garry was trying to avoid looking Larry in the eye, but when it was clear the gray wolf wasn't budging he looked up.

"Oh fine, it's not the howling. I'm just frustrated, you know?"

Judy would be the first to say that she had a fairly conservative upbringing, especially compared to a Zootopia upbringing. Traditional values were the norm in Bunnyburrow. But it was the twenty-first century, and in this day and age everyone in Bunnyburrow was used to things that would have been considered scandalous or aberrant for Judy's parents.

With nearly three hundred siblings, Judy had a dozen and a half brothers and sisters who had come out. And she was proud that it was never really an issue for her or her family. She loved each and every one of her family members – gay, straight, or otherwise. And while Grampa Otto might have said something tasteless when Ricky had brought his partner home for dinner, the rest of the Hopps clan had been welcoming and supportive.

And yet Judy was surprised – shocked even – when Larry pulled Garry into a warm embrace. She'd never considered that predators would …

"What's the matter hun, huh? You've been distant all day. Did I do something stupid again?"

Garry shook his head.

"No no no, it's not you. Well, nothing you did. I'm just … it's these fucking collars!"

Larry brought his forehead to meet Garry's, and the two were quiet for a moment. Finally, Garry met Larry's eyes and said:

"I'd pay a lot more than twenty bucks for just five minutes without the damn thing … and you."

Larry pulled back and looked intensely at Garry, shocked at the vulnerability in his partner's eyes. From her vantage point, Judy could still see that the light on Larry's collar had turned yellow.

"Are you trying to get me buzzed? You're a shameless flirt, Garry." Larry shook his head and then smiled at his partner, placing a tender kiss on the side of Garry's muzzle. "It's a big part of why I love you."

Garry smiled bashfully and looked down. Larry brought a paw to gently push Garry's muzzle up to look at him.

"But right now we've got a job to do. The boss will mount our heads if we mess this up. Besides, I'm going to hold you to that. If everything goes smoothly with that fox's crazy plan, then we'll get our turn in there."

Larry gave a hungry grin to Garry.

"And we'll have a lot more than five minutes."

The two embraced again, nuzzling affectionately. Again the breeze rolled past, setting the wolves' tails and fur alight with a flurry of gentle motion. The setting sun lighting the two in a stark contrast of firey gold and cold blue.

There was something so real, tangible and true in what she saw in the two wolves, what they'd said to each other. The compassion, the clumsiness, the desperation with which they clung to each other. Judy thought it was beautiful; painfully tragic.

Judy was reminded of the ending scene of Catsablanca, an old movie she adored. She would spend long hours forcing her parents and siblings to watch it over and over and over. She could recite the dialog by heart at this point.

Victor and the war had come between Rick and Ilsa, a petty feud between Rameo and Eweliet.

And here, the collars came between Garry and Larry.

How could that be fair?

And just as the thought came over her, Judy chastised herself. There was that sympathy again. Without the collars they wouldn't have been even able to come this far. It was tragic yes, but it was better than the savagery that would result without the collars.

The two wolves broke apart at last, each with a longing glance.

Larry smiled warmly at Garry, and then suddenly began to sniff the air around him.

"I smell that rabbit again."

Garry sniffed at the air.

"Yeah, me too. I guess she was checking out the warehouse as well."

The breeze blew past again, and Judy thanked Frith the scent of the harbor was masking her's from the two wolves.

"Well, we should probably get back to it."

"Yeah, ok."

The two wolves broke apart reluctantly.

"You're such a sap, Larry." Garry said.

"Yeah, but I'm your sap." Larry said with a broad grin.

The two wolves walked off around the corner of the warehouse.

Judy wasn't sure of what to make of what she'd seen, what she'd heard. It was intimate, and definitely not for her. But it revealed something she hadn't considered.

Predator couples would always be contending with those collars.

Things she took for granted – shows of passion, of desire between lovers – would trigger the collar as surely as fits of anger or savagery.

But despite all the hardships they faced, those two wolves were trying to make it work. Trying to find a way to be close. Just like Gideon had tried to find a way to achieve his dreams against all odds.

That thought sent Judy's mind reeling.

No, she couldn't sympathize with them. Not now. Not when she needed to figure out what they were up to.

Once she was sure the wolves were out of sight, Judy got to her paws and dusted herself off. The sun was sinking low on the horizon, the bottom of the radiant sphere beginning to mingle with the dancing waves of the harbor. A long luminous streak reflected across the surface of the water.

She'd need to move quickly. Rabbits weren't known for their night vision, something predators were much better suited for. Her best bet was to observe from a vantage.

So Judy climbed up the side of the warehouse and – finding the door at the top unlocked – stepped inside.

* * *

The first patrons were a cheetah couple and their cub. They stepped through the door to the Times nervously, unsure of what they'd find.

Nick was glad that he'd decided against greeting the arrivals at the front of the clinic; the cub's eyes doubled in size and stared in amazement at the sight of the Times. Thus far there'd been very little redeeming about the day, but if Nick had to choose something to keep it'd be the look of amazement on that cub's face.

Similarly astonished were his parents, who stood speechless arm in arm gawking. The cub began to point excitedly at all the attractions and his mouth ran faster than his own species at full tilt.

Nick strode up to the three cheetahs, an easy grin on his face.

"Welcome to the Wild Times! Now before you all get too excited, you're probably going to want to get those collars off!"

Nick gestured with his thumb to the Collar Check kiosk, behind which stood Clawhauser all smiles and cheer.

The father of the cub looked at Nick and said, "This … this is incredible. Thank you."

Nick laughed and said, "Don't thank me yet … Just wait till you give the rides a whirl, huh?

"Now go on, those collars have been around your neck long enough. Time to give them a rest!"

The cheetahs – practically yanked by their son – quickly made off towards Clawhauser. As Nick heard Clawhauser greet the cheetah's exuberantly, he saw the next set of patrons: a pair of raccoons.

"Welcome to the Wild Times!"

And so Nick stood at the entrance to the park, greeting each patron and bidding farewell to everyone as they left. He saw lions, badgers, wolves, leopards, bears – brown, black and polar, shrews, a couple of red foxes, and coyotes. Couples, friends, families. He saw it all, the look of wonder each had when they saw the Times, and the look of liberation when they heard the collar unlatch with a click.

After a while it almost became routine. Greet, direct, fend off a teary-eyed well-wisher, crack lame joke, repeat. Like every con he'd ever run, Nick was playing his role to a tee.

But he couldn't really escape from the magnitude of what he was seeing. Pure, unadulterated joy and freedom. Some, for the first time in their lives. Yesterday Nick was carting off inebriated wildebeest to the drunk tank. Today he was giving mammals their first and maybe best taste of freedom.

And of course – not content to let Nick acclimate to his environment – fate threw familiar faces in amongst the patrons.

Nick had never expected to see Duke Weaselton stride nervously into the park, his arm held protectively around a young weasel. She looked around with an obvious mix of excitement and trepidation, flinching as larger mammals went to and fro around them.

"Well I'll be, Duke Weaselton." Nick said, stepping up to the pair.

Duke jumped, moving the young weasel behind him protectively before he noticed Nick.

"What! Who's askin'? I ain't done… Oh, it's you Wilde!" Duke said with obvious relief.

"So … this is your big project, huh? Popsicles not enough for ya' then?"

"Sure is Duke." Nick said kindly. "And who is this?"

The younger weasel was looking at Nick apprehensively from around Duke and nervously played with the hem of her dress.

"Oh hey! Julia, I want'cha to meet a good buddy of mine. A real clever fox. Slick Nick Wilde."

Nick bent down and held out a paw to the young weasel, who after a glance at Duke stepped up and shook it.

"Nick, this is my niece Julia. I'm lookin' out for her on account of her mom …" The weasel leaned into Nick and said quietly, "Well, my sis's in the hospital. She was trying for another kid …"

Duke shuffled on his feet pensively as Nick tried to understand what he'd heard.

"Anyhow, I'm lookin' after her. So's I figured I'd come and see what your big scheme was, Slick. Gotta' say, this ain't half bad. In fact, I'd even say it was un-bad."

The weasel certainly had a way with words.

"Yeah, it's a step up from hustling that's for sure. You still running the movie stand, Duke?" Nick asked.

"Sure, always money in the movie stand. But I'm gunna have to find something better soon I think. Doesn't quite pay the bills for two, ya know?"

Duke glanced down at Julia, who was staring wide eyed as a cart on the Roar-A-Coaster thundered past.

"Well, where are my manners. You two didn't come here to talk shop with me, did you?" Nick smiled warmly at Julia and winked. "The collar check is over there. They'll take your collars and then you two can go and do anything you want."

Julia smiled back at Nick. Duke nodded at Nick and led his niece over towards Clawhauser's kiosk.

Duke stopped halfway and called over his shoulder.

"Wilde, lemme know if you want a movie or somethin'. I'm your guy."

Nick gave a lazy two fingered salute.

"Will do Duke, will do. Now go enjoy yourself."

This was too much. It was one thing for Nick to see a bunch of mammals he'd never met, but the Duke of Bootleg himself?

He had a niece. Did the Duke he knew have a niece? Did he even have a sister? How long had Julia been wearing her collar?

The questions piled up, and Nick stepped to the edge of the warehouse. His mind a storm of contemplation, the fox stood brooding. A lone stationary figure amidst the ebb and flow of high-spirited and joyous revelers. Nick watched Honey – who had closed the clinic at this point – usher another batch of park-goers into the cart of the Roar-A-Coaster and send them speeding off. Finnick and Clawhauser were manning the Tiki-Hut serving Piña Coladas and other sweet drinks with umbrellas, fresh fruit and popcorn, ice-cream, and of course – pawpsicles.

Nick stood and observed the tides and flows, and as he looked he saw another rock in the stream.

The lion towered over the majority of mammals who walked, skipped, and ran around him. He wore a dingy blue checkered two-piece suit paired with a bright red tie. His mane was a great ruffle of reddish-brown and gold – slightly unkempt and unruly – tangles and burrs marring the otherwise impressive locks.

The feline was slightly worse for the wear, but it was indisputably Leodore Lionheart.

Nick made a living for twenty years quickly analyzing mammals based on nothing but their body language and expression, the habit invaluable to his work as a cop. Nick was used to seeing Lionheart standing proud, haughty – vain even – in front of a podium or behind a desk, coolly and calmly controlling conversations and framing narratives to suit his political ambitions.

This Lionheart leaned unobtrusively against a metal column that supported the roof, arms crossed – deliberately out of the way and out of sight. His eyes were narrowed, a slight smirk on his face. It was almost a look of contempt. His gaze flitted from mammal to mammal, from attraction to attraction, dancing over some small detail before alighting to the next.

Nick knew that look, that pattern.

Lionheart was casing the joint.

That would have been cause for concern, but coupled with the unnerving sight of what Nick remembered as a boisterous mammal skulking in the shadows doubled the sense of unease that sat heavy in Nick's stomach.

Lionheart was trying not to be noticed? _Fine_ , thought Nick, _time to give him the personal touch._

Nick swiftly and subtly wove his way through Times to stalk up unseen behind the lion.

"Enjoying the Times?" Nick asked, causing the lion to give a start.

Lionheart turned and looked down at the fox who was wearing a comfortable sly grin.

"And here's the fox of the hour! Nick Wilde himself!"

Lionheart's stentorian voice was unmistakable.

"Good to finally meet you, Wilde!"

Nick felt a massive paw thrust into his own and shake roughly.

"It's a pleasure, an honor really. My name is-"

"Leodore Lionheart."

The lion looked mildly surprised before breaking into a giant toothy grin.

"So you've heard about me? Don't let them fool you, I'm actually a nice guy."

Nick's lay his ears flat against his head as the lion let out an uncomfortably loud and booming laugh.

"I've got to hand it to you, fox. This is pretty clever."

Lionheart gestured widely at the park and winked.

"Though, that's what foxes do huh? Crafty devil."

To his credit, Nick gave no indication that he was offended by the reductionist application of species stereotypes.

"So … Leo. Can I call you Leo?" Nick flashed a winning grin, "Ya' enjoying yourself?"

"Oh sure. I don't get to take the collar off nearly often enough. But I shouldn't complain! When life gives you lemons … make a theme park!"

The lion laughed heartily again, slapping a paw on Nick's back. Nick had long ago learned to be very suspicious of mammals who laugh too readily.

"You must be proud Wilde. Look at them all. Running around, getting in touch with their instincts, their true selves …"

Nick raised an eyebrow. "True selves? I don't know about that, Leo. But I am hoping they're getting a little taste of freedom."

"Freedom? How noble." Lionheart said dismissively.

After a minute the lion looked sidelong at Nick, smiling like he'd just figured out a secret.

"Ah! So that's what you're selling … You know Wilde, you really are a sly mammal. Promise them freedom and fool them into thinking the pale imitation is the real thing."

The lion bent down to peer at the fox.

"Have you considered a career in politics?"

Again the lion laughed uproariously, but his eyes never left the fox. Nick's sense of unease had spread throughout his body, morphing into a cold dread.

"What?" Was all Nick could bring himself to say in the moment.

"You can't give them true liberation. If they had that then … well, you've seen the news. More than a dozen mammals got **real** freedom."

"You know Leo, this sort of thing was never my strong suit." Nick narrowed his gaze, his smirk taking a decidedly unfriendly cast.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying philosophy 101. I'm just thinking we skip ahead to the part where you tell me plainly what you're going on about."

"I'm just pointing out the obvious. You're not naïve enough to mistake this- " The lion again gestured at the park around him. "-for real freedom. No. Real freedom is something no predator can ever have. Not if we want to enjoy all the benefits of civilization.

"After all, it's not in our nature. Is it?"

"Proud lion," Lionheart gestured to himself, and then at Nick. "Clever fox."

Nicks smile had long ago fallen away.

"Well, I think we're done here." Lionheart said abruptly. "It's been wild, Wilde."

The lion drew himself to his hull height and strode towards the collar check with purpose.

Nick watched the lion go, disturbed. As Lionheart walked he brushed past a black furred wolf who – upon seeing the lion – spun and tracked the feline's movements intently. The fox and wolf watched the lion retrieve his collar and walk to the exit.

With one last flick of Lionheart's tail disappeared down the tunnel. The wolf turned to Nick.

"That was Lionheart, Wilde."

"Yeah, I know."

The wolf studied Nick with a serious look.

"That cat's bad news."

"You don't say …"

Nick looked past the wolf, expression distant.

"You probably figured, but I'm Mike." The wolf said when Nick looked back. "My nephew speaks very highly of you."

Nick had already seen the Fangmeyer he knew; the familiar white furred wolf had walked in when the pack had arrived. It was still strange to see him and Clawhauser out of uniform. He never realized that he'd had an uncle.

"What can I say, I am a charming guy … Good to meet you."

Nick held out a paw which hung in the air as the grizzled wolf cocked his head.

"Wow, you really don't remember. We've met before Nick."

Nick lowered his paw and started to form an excuse when the wolf interrupted.

"Honey told me. Didn't believe it. I asked Finnick, he told me the same thing. Still didn't quite believe it. But you just assumed we'd never met …"

Nick sighed in defeat.

"Listen, if you're looking for answers let me know if you find any. 'Cause I've got none."

Fangmeyer scrutinized the fox.

"No answers, just a question."

Nick raised an eyebrow.

"Can I see the badge?"

The fox furrowed his brow in confusion and a flicker of suspicion. Nick mulled the request over, before reaching for his wallet and reluctantly handing it to the wolf.

Mike flipped it open and froze when the light gleamed off of the badge into his eyes. Nick saw him slowly reach with his other paw, gently inching a finger to touch the silver metal. He stared in silence at the badge.

"Wow. This ... This is something."

The reverence in the wolf's voice surprised Nick.

"I always wanted to be a cop ... before the collars. Back when it meant something."

The wolf closed the wallet and handed it back to Nick without looking him in the eye.

"You know, I don't know what to believe about you." The wolf looked up at Nick. "But I believe that."

Unsure of what to say, Nick decided to say nothing.

"Anyway, it's getting close to closing time. I'll start winding things down with Finnick and Honey."

Nick nodded and the wolf turned hallway to leave before turning his head to the fox.

"You did good, kid."

Nick gave Mike a smile.

As Fangmeyer's pack began to usher guests to the collar check, Nick took the opportunity to take a long look around at the Times.

It was everything he imagined and so much more, but it was layered with so much context, so much meaning that it scarcely bore any resemblance to his innocent childhood fantasy.

Nick watched as the last cart careened through the Roar-A-Coaster climbing to a particularly high apex – nearly the top of the warehouse – and finally plummeting down.

Suddenly Nick looked hard past the top of the track to where the second story catwalk and manager's office hung over the warehouse. His pulse quickened and he felt suddenly short of breath.

He was almost certain he saw a pair of black tipped ears poking over the office window.

 


	15. Reunion

_"Up ahead they's a thousan' lives we might live, but when it comes it'll on'y be one."_

_― John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath_

* * *

Judy Hopps was a creature of action.

She felt the most alive when she was throwing everything she had into whatever she was doing, work or play. Hopps was never one for half measures.

That wasn't to say that she disliked leisure or indolence. On the contrary, she loved to curl up with a good book (and a stuffed rabbit or two) on a lazy Sunday. And recently she'd begun to eagerly look forward to the weekly Friday movie night with Nick. The two would spend the evening lazily, enjoying each other's company and banter, a few bottles of beer, and occasionally even paying attention to the movie.

But in all things, Judy liked to know what she was doing and where she stood. Her training as an officer coupled with her resourcefulness meant she was seldom at a loss for what to do.

Like she was now.

Judy wracked her brain trying to remember if the academy had ever held a lecture on "What to do if your partner suddenly shows up with a tame collar and a divergent set of memories."

Judy smiled as she heard Nick's quip in her mind.

_See Carrots, they never teach you the stuff you really need to know._

It was an old argument: Nick saying he lucked through the academy because of his street smarts and wiles, and Judy saying he got through it because he actually busted his butt training. They'd long ago abandoned any real pretense of a disagreement, but the trappings of the argument had found their way into their rapport. It was Nick's way of paying Judy a roundabout compliment; he felt that she was always the one busting her tail and he was lucky to be along for the ride. And it was Judy's way of telling Nick that he worked every bit as hard as her and deserved every accolade they got as much as she did.

But Judy knew that none of the banter, the old jokes, the pillars that had formed the unshakable temple of their friendship would help here if he didn't even remember her in the first place. For the first time since she resigned from the ZPD in the middle of the Nighthowler crisis, Judy didn't know what to do.

And now she was alone with Nick in the sterile box of a hospital examination room, the Chief and Mrs. Wilde having left just a minute earlier.

Nick was brooding; Judy could recognize that much. But his whole demeanor was a far cry from the Nick she was used to.

He was hunched and tense, fidgeting nervously with the strings to the all-to-small hospital gown that left little to the imagination. With one paw he rubbed at his neck, and Judy couldn't help but gasp again as she saw the painfully thin fur that failed to conceal the red irritated skin beneath.

But the thing that Judy couldn't stop staring at was Nick's eyes. The green orbs lacked the sparkle, the luster and playfulness that Judy had grown so accustomed to. They were wide open – something of a rarity for the fox – and staring blindly at the floor.

He was haggard and wilting, and it pained Judy.

It was all she could do not to rush over to him and smother him in a hug. In the Hopps household abundant physical expressions of affection were practically ingrained from youth. Colds and the flu spread like wildfire through the burrow. Wrapping a friend or colleague in a hug when she was happy seemed to be the most natural thing to Judy.

But her time in Zootopia quickly showed her that few mammals were quite so open with their emotions as the rabbits in Bunnyburrow. Especially Nick. He was the most reserved and guarded mammal she knew. And it made sense, especially once she knew what Nick had faced in life.

It made the times he opened up to her that much more meaningful. She knew how much trust the fox had put in her when he told her about the Ranger Scouts.

Trust that seemed to have evaporated, replaced by a horrific device right out of a story by Colt Vonnegut.

Judy could stand the silence no longer.

"Nick, talk to me. Please." She said a paper's width louder than a whisper.

Nick gave no indication that he'd heard her.

"Listen. I know you don't believe it, but I trust you. I care for you." Judy looked plaintively for some reaction.

"I want to help you, okay? And I can't do that if you don't say something."

Nothing.

"Nick, you're the best friend I've ever had. Please. Talk to me, scream at me … do something!"

Judy's breath caught when Nick's eyes met hers. The fox shook his head and look back at the floor.

"I'm not."

Judy blinked and let out the breath. "You're not what?"

"I'm not him. Not who you think I am. Not who she thinks I am."

The fox laughed hollowly.

"That's what they're talking about you know. 'He's an impostor!' Any second now they'll come in and haul me off. Just like dear old Dad."

His face contorted into a pained grimace.

"Hope the straightjacket is comfortable at least."

"Oh for Frith's sake … "

Judy hopped off of the chair that she was sitting on and strode purposefully up to the fox.

"What happened to 'never let them see that they get to you', huh? Are you really just going sit there moping and moaning?"

She reached up and bent her long ears to either side of her head, forming the rough semblance of a fox's sharp triangular ears.

"Oh woe is me … I'm just a poor fox, nobody loves me. Except …" She cocked her head to the side, "For some reason all of these mammals keep trying to help me. Ugh, it's the **WORST**!"

Hopps groaned in faux anguish, bringing the back of her right paw to her forehead (the ear it held snapping back up into place like a spring) and swooning dramatically.

Nick blinked owlishly at the rabbit's hammy act.

It started small, no more than a chuckle. But as Judy raised her eyebrows and gave an exaggerated bow, the laugh swelled in his chest. Soon the fox was clutching his sides, letting lose with a strange combination of snickering and belly-shaking laughter that only a fox could produce.

And for the first time Judy saw him smile.

"Ha! You're really something, fluff." He said at last.

"Thank you. If this cop thing doesn't work out, I always have a career as an actress." Judy said with a giggle.

Nick snickered, but his smile faltered after a second. He looked carefully at Judy, uncertainty etched into his features.

"Nick, I know it's hard. You've never been one to open up to anyone." Judy put a comforting paw on Nick's knee. "But I want you to know that I trust you completely. You're my partner. I'll never do anything to hurt you."

Judy felt her heart soar when she saw the look on the fox's face. It was one she'd seen before.

_Funny you should say that. Because, well, I've been thinking... it would be nice to have a partner._

Surprise, disbelief, and finally wonder.

Nick stared at her like that for a long time. Finally, he gave a half smile.

"Ok. Why the hell not?"

The fox scratched the back of his head, and then jumped when Judy leapt up onto the examination bed and scooted to sit right next to the fox.

"I want you to see something, Nick."

Feeling a bit exposed, Nick attempted to draw the paper gown closer against him. The rabbit paid no mind, reaching into her pocket and withdrawing a phone. She swiftly unlocked it and navigated to a gallery of pictures, tapping on a folder labeled "Dumb Fox."

She held the phone out to Nick.

With no small measure of trepidation, the fox took it.

Emblazed on the screen of the phone was that picture again, the one he'd seen framed in the apartment he'd woken up in. Only this one wasn't cropped to fit into a square frame. The fox and the bunny were smiling broadly as before, but this picture clearly showed the fox's bright blue uniform, gleaming gold badge, and a nametag reading 'Wilde.'

It was him.

Slowly he brought a paw to the phone, swiping left to see the next image in the folder.

A selfie of Judy and Nick in their cruiser, both sporting aviators and matching frowns of determination. It looked like a poster for a buddy cop movie.

Swipe.

Nick halfway up a tree, straining to reach for a bobcat cub who clung to the end of a branch.

Swipe.

Nick wearing the bright orange vest of a meter maid gritting his teeth and glowering in irritation.

Swipe.

A picture of Nick beaming proudly at a rotund cheetah who was pounding the desk he sat at in laughter. Captioned "Dumb Camel Joke."

"Clawhauser!?"

Nick turned to Judy, who looked at him hopefully.

"I know him ... He's a cop too?"

Judy smiled and nodded, "Yup! He's the nicest guy in the precinct!"

"He's definitely got the appetite for donuts … "

Swipe.

Nick and Judy fist-bumping in front of the precinct. Captioned "Ready to make the world a better place!"

Swipe.

A candid shot. Nick in the cubicle the two shared at the precinct, hunched over a pile of casework. His paw holding his head, tie loose and uniform rumpled. Fatigue soaked into every feature. The clock on the wall reading 11:22 pm.

Captioned "My Fox."

Nick slowly turned to Judy, who felt her cheeks flush. Judy bit her lip and looked away embarrassed.

"Oh cheese and crackers. I forgot that was in there."

Nick handed Judy the phone without comment. Instead he stared at her, his expression unreadable.

"You know, you're a lot different the Hopps I met."

* * *

Lt. Hopps stared in disbelief over the edge of the second story catwalk that over looked the warehouse floor.

This was not what she was expecting.

A Nip storehouse, a safehouse for the mob, even an illegal gambling ring – all things that would have made perfect sense and she would have been ecstatic to radio back. Finally, the mammals back at the precinct would realize she was as much a cop as them.

But this? A rinky-dink theme park?

Putting aside for a moment questions about why the preds had gone to so much trouble to hide this, what the heck was she supposed to do? Report that she'd found a rickety Walley World knock off? Sure she'd had plenty of probable cause, but there's no way this wouldn't look like a giant waste of the precinct's time and money.

She got sent on a snipe hunt and the only thing she found was a wild goose.

Eating a red herring.

Or something … she was pretty sure she'd lost track of the metaphor.

Judy grumbled in frustration, her gaze fixing on the red fox who stood on the warehouse floor below her.

Unlike the two wolves, cheetah and fennec – who busied themselves with turning on machinery and setting up rides – the fox seemed to be taking in the sights of the park. His gaze would fall on some ride or attraction, and a smile would tug at the edges of his muzzle. Often he would shake his head in amused incredulity.

Judy's felt her nose twitch as she watched Wilde.

His face was plastered everywhere – talk about an ego! So why was he acting like he'd never seen this place before?

The fox walked out of her view and Judy looked around for a better vantage. The manager's office provided the obvious solution; it featured a wide window designed to provide a clear view of the majority of the warehouse floor.

She crept across the catwalk on all fours, the low profile letting her move swiftly and quietly. She reached the office door and pushed it open a crack.

The room was dark, dimly lit by the ambient light of the city that crept in from a window on the opposite wall. A panel on the window was open, and a slight breeze from the harbor blew in and rustling papers on a large desk in the center of the room.

Hopps froze when she noticed the silhouette of a fox in the corner. She held her breath for a minute, her paw twitching over her pawcuffs. And then her eyes adjusted to the dim light of the office and she saw that the 'fox' was a life-size cardboard cutout of Wilde.

She exhaled in relief and shook her head. _Typical fox … think's he so charming,_ she thought.

Judy slowly closed the door behind her and crept up to the window overlooking the floor of the warehouse.

Glancing down she was thankful she'd decided to move into the warehouse. She could see pretty much everything, from the winding track of the coaster to the …

Whack-A-Bunny?

Judy's mouth flew open. Those species-ist jerks!

The rabbit frowned and harrumphed angrily.

"Dumb fox and his dumb park … I've seen better rides at the Carrot Days festival." Judy mumbled in irritation.

But how many predators had she seen there?

The answer was obvious – none – but the question had never occurred to her. And that surprised her. Why hadn't any predators come? Why didn't she ever consider it?

She looked down on the warehouse again and her eyes were drawn to the kiosk the cheetah was setting up.

The collars.

Of course, that's why no predators came. The thrills and terrors of the Mysterious Hay Maze alone would have led to a pile of shocked predators.

So how were they supposed to enjoy this park?

Judy's attention was drawn to the fox, who walked towards an opening in the side of the warehouse. He closed his eyes, and took a deep breath as though to steel himself. He exhaled and a saw him put on the same sly smile featured on the cutout behind her.

Stepping out of the tunnel came a cheetah couple and their cub, probably about eight or nine. From her perch, Judy had a clear view of the cub's face when he first took in the sights of the park.

His face lit up in jubilant amazement, eyes darting from attraction to attraction.

It was the same face Judy had seen countless times on the face of her siblings as they came running up the runs of the warren on their birthdays to see a pile of presents and cake.

The fox conversed with the cub's parents for a moment, and then directed them to the kiosk where the portly cheetah waved. She watched the three make their way over, the cub pointing energetically at each and everything he saw. The rotund cheetah greeted the family exuberantly, shaking the father's paw and ruffling the top of the cub's head.

They appeared to chat for a moment, before the stocky feline produced a small metal object and reached to the cub's neck.

The cub's collar dropped limply around his shoulders.

Judy blinked in shock. They had a collar key.

And suddenly it all made sense. The secrecy, the 'Collar Check' sign …

The three cheetahs left the kiosk, yanked forward by the cub who was eagerly pointing at the Roar-A-Coaster.

Judy watched as another group of predators had their collars removed and ran into the park.

She'd expected to find something sinister, some dark part of the criminal underbelly. But this?Judy had no idea what to make of this.

For the first time in her career as an officer she was at a loss for what to do. So she did the only thing she could think of.

She watched.

* * *

Nick pushed the door to the manager's office slowly. The door creaked open, and Nick stood in the doorway.

He glanced around the room nervously, his vision quickly adapting to the darkness. He didn't immediately spot Judy, which didn't surprise him. She'd hide as soon as he realized he was coming.

Now for the hard part.

"Hopps, I know you're in here."

Nick stepped further into the room, glancing at the corners before coming to stop at the edge of the desk.

"And I know you don't have any reason to trust me … but listen. I'm not going to stop you from leaving."

Nick pointed behind him.

"Door is over there. Go anytime you like."

The fox's ears swiveled and he glanced from side to side, trying to locate the bunny.

"I'm just really hoping we can talk. I'm sure you've got some questions … I know I do."

Nick walked around the desk and put a paw on the chair that sat behind it.

"I should arrest you."

Nick's breath caught in his throat. He finally spotted Judy crouched in the corner behind a cardboard cutout.

It was her.

The rabbit cautiously stepped out from around the cutout and stood on the other side of the desk from Nick, closer to the door.

Nick nodded, "Yeah, you probably should. But you won't."

Judy looked at him quizzically.

Nick gestured at the warehouse floor with a paw.

"You saw the same thing I did. You saw what it was, what it means. Are you really going to be the one who shuts this down?"

"You're taking the collars off predators. That's the only thing keeping you from going savage."

Judy looked conflicted.

"I can't just choose not to enforce the law just because I feel like it. I swore an oath! I doubt you would understand that."

_If you thought we'd ever trust a fox without a muzzle, you're even dumber than you look!_

No, no. This wasn't her. Not his Judy.

It still hurt though.

Nick took a deep breath and exhaled heavily. His muzzle bent into a sad smile.

"Wow. Are you sure about that?"

The fox reached into his pocket and produced his wallet. He opened it to reveal the silver badge and proffered it across the desk.

With obvious unease and a glance to the door, Judy reached out and took the wallet. She glanced over the badge and when she looked up again she saw Nick standing at attention.

"I, Nicholas Wilde, do solemnly swear:

"On my honor, I will never betray my badge, my integrity, my character, or the public trust.

"I will always have the courage to hold myself and other accountable for our actions.

"I will always uphold the constitution, my community, and the agency I serve."

Nick relaxed and sat in the chair behind the desk.

Judy stared at the fox, holding the badge in her paw.

"I … I don't understand." She said.

Nick sighed.

"It's not that hard, Carrots. I swore the same oath you did."

She shook her head.

"No, that's not possible. They don't let predators onto the force …"

"Yeah, you think that's nuts?" Nick looked her in the eyes, "Where I come from, there aren't any collars."

"What? What are you talking about … where you come from?"

Nick got back out of the chair and slowly made his way around the desk to stand between the rabbit and the outside facing window.

"Hopps, I want you to hear something."

Nick produced the carrot pen from his pocket.

"This is yours. I 'borrowed' it last week at karaoke. You were … well you gave quite the performance."

Nick pressed the play button. Judy's voice blared from the pen, slightly tinny.

_"Jus' a small town girl!_

_"Livin' in a lonely world … she tooka mi'night train goin' anywhere …_

_"Come on Nick! You know you wanna' join me!"_

Nick's voice came next.

_"Those aren't the lyrics, Carrots."_

Judy's voice giggled.

_"Shuddup Nick …_

_"A sh-inger in a shmoky room …"_

Judy's mouth was open, eyes wide.

"Stop! That's enough."

Nick released the button on the pen.

"What the hell was that? How did you … I've never …"

Nick nodded.

"Yeah, I know. You never sang that, not at karaoke and not to me.

"But my Hopps did. My partner did."

Judy could only stare at the fox.

"How can that be, what does this mean?" She asked at last.

Nick sighed and shrugged his shoulders.

"I have no idea, but I can't figure it out on my own."

Nick looked at the rabbit in the eyes.

"Judy, please. I need your help."

Judy was so caught up in the fox's gaze that she almost didn't see the figure train a weapon on Nick through the open window behind him.

"Look out!" She cried and pointed at the window.

Nick spun around just in time for something to whiz past his right ear. He caught a glimpse of a figure cloaked in a billowing coat and heard the splatter of whatever had missed him hit the wall behind him.

Nick didn't think, his training as an officer kicking into high gear.

He dived into Judy, grabbing her with one paw and rolling behind the desk. With one of his hind paws he kicked the desk over and shoved Judy behind it. Again something whizzed by his head and Nick threw himself on top of the rabbit. He heard a third projectile splatter against the overturned desk, the figure outside cursing.

There was a clatter outside that was followed by another on the roof of the warehouse.

After a second, Nick poked his head over the desk. When nothing whizzed past him, he released the rabbit underneath him.

"Let go of me, fox!" Judy snapped and rolled out from under Nick.

Nick looked back, and then immediately past her.

It took Judy a second to register the change in his gaze, and she followed it to the back wall.

Two splotches of something resembling blue paint were slowly starting to drip down.

Nick grabbed Judy by the shoulders.

"Oh god … Whatever you do, **DO NOT TOUCH THAT**. OK? It's a drug … a serum. Mindicampum … Holy-something-or-other."

"Holicithius?" Judy asked.

"Yes that! It makes mammals go savage …" Nick looked around the room furtively. "Look, I've seen it before. You and I … my Judy-"

Nick was interrupted by the power in the warehouse going out with a bang.

The rabbit and the fox looked at each other. Both went through the academy, and both knew that the first thing the police did before a raid was to cut the power.

The booming voice of Finnick could be heard from the warehouse floor.

"Aww shit! Nick! **RAZORBACKS**!"


	16. Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust

_"Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe."_

_― Frederick Douglass_

* * *

"You called in a raid!?"

"What!? No, why would I-" The lieutenant protested, looking as shocked as the fox was.

"Whatever, it doesn't matter right now."

On all fours Nick swiftly padded over to the window looking outside, jumped up, and looked out.

A half-dozen squad cars – lights flashing – surrounded the warehouse, and Nick saw the dark bulky shapes of two SWAT vans. Nick easily heard the rapid deep thumping of a helicopter's rotors, and a moment later was almost blinded when a spotlight was trained on the warehouse window. The fox ducked under the window as a beam of light knifed across the office.

"Boggis, Bunce and Bean eat your damn hearts out …" Nick grumbled.

"Wilde, listen. You don't want to mess with the Razorbacks … " Judy looked rapidly around the room, a look Nick knew the rabbit made when she was quickly formulating a plan. "If you want to have any hope of getting out of this intact, I've got to take you in."

"Are you crazy? I do that, and I'll never-" The fox stopped and then gestured between him and the rabbit. "- **we'll** never figure anything out."

Nick brought a paw to the bridge of his muzzle.

"Look, I know you have no reason to believe me. As far as you know I'm just … I'm just a shifty, untrustworthy fox."

Nick looked up to catch the rabbit's uncertain gaze.

"You … my Hopps trusted me once when I didn't deserve it, and it saved my life. So I trust you now."

A loud crash shook the warehouse. Nick knew it was probably one of the many ram officers battering the door with his horns. Any second the police would breach the warehouse, and he'd be out of time.

"Please, just let me go." Nick pleaded.

Judy was clearly conflicted, her mouth opening and closing as she tried to figure out what to say. Finally, it settled on a frown and she narrowed her eyes.

"No, I can't just look away. For your sake I have to take you in."

Nick sighed and smiled sadly. He glanced back out the window and then looked back at the rabbit.

"I guess I can't blame you. I'd try to bring me in too."

The fox and the rabbit stood staring at each other for a heartbeat. Nick caught the rabbit's slight shift in weight. He'd sparred with Hopps enough to know what was coming.

Nick dived to the floor as Judy leapt into a flying kick. The rabbit sailed over the fox, and Nick tucked into a roll. He sprung up just in time to dodge a rebound roundhouse that Nick knew from firsthand experience would have laid him flat out on his tail.

As Judy recovered her balance, Nick tackled the rabbit to the floor. He pinned her arms and used his weight to hold her down.

"Hopps, please. Stop!" He begged, grunting as Judy squirmed and struggled underneath him.

The rabbit's nose was twitching in what Nick knew was instinctual fear, but she was staring at him - violet eyes ablaze with furious resolve. It was a look Nick had seen strike terror into the hearts of mammals three times his size.

"Judy, I'm not going to hurt you. I could **never** hurt you."

Judy blinked in surprise. She felt the certainty in the fox's promise, how important it was. To him it was a solemn vow, an oath sworn. She believed it.

Cautiously, the fox eased off of the rabbit, relieved when she made no move to stop him.

The sound of splintering wood reverberated through the warehouse. Nick's ears fell flat against his head, and he looked imploringly at Judy.

"I'm trusting you. Just let me go."

Judy felt something pressed into her paw, but her gaze never left Nick. He stood up slowly, and then bolted to the door. He stopped and pointed at the blue splatters whose droplets were trailing blue streaks down the wall.

"Night Howlers, Hopps. _Mindicampum Holicithius._ "

With a quick glance back at the rabbit, Nick shot through the door. Judy watched the brush of his tail get yanked after him.

A booming voice blared through the air.

_This is the ZPD. We have the building surrounded. Lay down with your paws clearly visible._

_Any attempt to resist will be met with appropriate force. This is your only warning._

A moment later Judy heard a series of deafening detonations accompanied by bright flashes. The rabbit kipped up to her paws and ran to the window overlooking the warehouse floor.

She saw the Razorbacks, six of them – all warthogs and boars – kitted out in full riot gear. They crashed through the Tiki Hut in an explosion of bamboo, and broke down the Howl Along (the CRT monitor exploding with a concussive pop.)

She saw Wilde and the black-furred wolf heaping whatever furniture or debris they could over the top of a drainage grate in the floor.

She watched the porcine police form a phalanx out of their riot shields and began to move deliberately in on the two predators. The Razorbacks yelled at the fox and wolf to stand down.

Wilde pointed to one side of the line of advancing police and the black-furred wolf nodded and moved quickly. The two predators swept around both flanks of the shield wall.

Unable to present a unified wall, the line split into two groups of three. Again they yelled at the predators to surrender.

The three facing the wolf drew out their batons and the middle Razorback – a brown furred warthog – went to swing at the wolf's legs. The wolf jumped back, kipping off the wall of the Ball of Yarn Pit and pouncing down on the now off-balance warthog. The wolf rode the warthog to the ground and Judy saw him grimace as his collar discharged. Judy winced as she saw the wolf receive a brutal whack on the side by another Razorback which sent him sprawling.

On his side, Wilde was crouched low and waiting for the large gray-furred boar in front of him to make a move. The boar swung suddenly at the fox, but he was already gone. Wilde had stepped quickly to the boar's side, grabbed his arm at the elbow and wrist. The fox used the boar's momentum to bring him to the ground, ripped the baton out of the boar's hand and whacked him soundly on the head.

It was a textbook arm-lock take down, a maneuver Judy recognized immediately from her training at the academy. She'd had to use it on a number of occasions to subdue mammals of about her size. It really shouldn't have worked here, but the boar wasn't expecting it and Wilde was clearly well-trained.

Now armed with a baton, Wilde jumped back out of the way of another Razorback's swing, almost falling backwards over the counter of the Collar Check. He called out in concern for the black-furred wolf.

Judy looked and saw the wolf had recovered from the blow to his side and managed to wrest away the riot shield from the now-unconscious warthog. He body checked a second Razorback and spun away from the follow up strike.

Wilde jumped onto the counter of the Collar Check and leapt over the two Razorback's in front of him, tucking into a roll as he hit the warehouse floor.

Now adjacent, the wolf and fox turned to face the four riot officers. Judy could see the two predators breathing heavily from the exertion, and she saw that the light on their collars had turned orange – dangerously close to triggering a shock.

The four Razorback's drew together, and Judy saw one of them – a grizzled, gray boar she recognized as Captain Pyotr Borov – produced a strange device that resembled a shopping scanner and pointed it at the two predators.

The wolf – evidentially thinking the device to be a Taser or dart gun – fell to a knee and held his shield in front of him and the fox.

Borov gave a laugh and depressed the trigger.

The lights on their collars turned red, and the sickening crackle of their electrical discharge echoed across the warehouse floor – now in stereo.

The fox and wolf writhed and twisted, growling in pain. And the shocks did not abate; five second, ten seconds … twenty.

It was only when the two predators had stopped growling and their writhing became less coordinated that the Captain finally released the trigger.

Wilde and the wolf curled into fetal positions, the fight having fled in the wake of the electrical assault.

And then Judy heard the fox say, startlingly clear in the silence that followed the melee:

"You know Mike; I really can't say I'm a fan of **current** events …"

Borov sneered and depressed the trigger again.

Judy couldn't bring herself to watch, so she turned her attention to what the fox had pressed into her paw.

The carrot pen and his badge.

* * *

The rabbit's ears had fallen and she glanced at the floor, nervously playing with the tip of her right ear.

"And then I got up in front of that podium and …"

Judy looked up at Nick, her eyes round and wet with moisture.

"Oh god I wish I could take it back."

The rabbit felt a comforting paw on her shoulder, and looked up into the emerald eyes of Mrs. Wilde. The vixen smiled at her tenderly.

"It's okay, dear. The rabbit at that conference and the wonderful rabbit in front of me are two completely different mammals."

Judy nodded but looked unconvinced. She looked back to Nick, who was looking at her inquisitively. His head was slightly cocked to the side. Judy took a deep breath, and then continued:

"I got flustered, when I was asked why the predators were going savage. I didn't know, but I guess … I guess I fell back on what I'd been taught. What I really thought deep down."

There was an audible hitch in the rabbit's voice.

"So right there – in front of you and every media organization in the city – I said that predators were going savage because of their DNA … because t-they … b-because …"

Tears began to stream down Judy's face.

"Because I was a dumb, ignorant bunny … And I know you've forgiven me, but I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Nick watched his mother draw the rabbit into an embrace, but was mystified by Judy's reaction.

"Why are you sorry? I mean, why else would predators be going savage? It's not like any prey were going nuts …"

Judy's head whipped around to stare at him, shocked.

"What? Nick, you can't believe that!"

Judy shared a look of confusion with Mrs. Wilde before she continued.

"I found out that it was a drug, a serum that was causing mammals to go savage. **Any** mammals, prey or predators! Apparently my Uncle Terry went crazy and …"

The rabbit shook her head to focus her thoughts.

"The point is; it was all a conspiracy. Bellwether was using this serum to force predators to go savage, and using the bigotry and hatred of dumb prey like me to further her own twisted political ambitions."

Judy's plaintive gaze threatened to bore a hole into Nick's head with its intensity.

"It was the Night Howlers, Nick. Predators don't go savage."

Nick was silent for a long time. When he finally spoke he spoke deliberately, with a measured and even tone that barely masked the anger that was simmering underneath.

"Wait are you serious? It's not in our DNA? It's because of some … some fucking drug?"

Judy nodded, unsure of what would follow.

Nick closed his eyes, taking several deep breaths in a vain attempt to quell the raging fires of his fury.

"So it was a lie. Just like everything they told me."

Nick slipped off of the examination table and moved to stand in front of the counter where the tame collar sat.

"I never needed this. None of us ever needed this."

He reached out and picked up the collar, holding it in his hands.

"Nick …" Judy said, her face brimming with concern.

Nick was staring at the collar in his hands.

"It was just a lie. Another lie."

Nick extended his arm above him, and then – with a primal growl of hatred – he threw the collar to the ground as hard as he could.

The fox wheeled to face the rabbit.

"Why do you hate us? Huh? What the **fuck** did we ever do to you?"

Judy was startled and barely managed to bleat out, "Nick I don't …"

"THIRTY YEARS!" The fox shouted. "Thirty years of wearing that goddamn thing …. And why? Because you were scared!?"

The fox was breathing heavily, panting in fury, and loomed over the diminutive rabbit.

" **NICHOLAS!** "

His mother's exclamation snapped Nick out of his rage, snapped him to his senses.

Nick drew a sudden breath, his gaze shifting from the startled rabbit and the upset visage of his mother.

The fox retreated, stepping back until his back hit the wall of the clinic. His paw was at his neck.

"Oh my god. I was angry … I was really angry. Seeing red."

The fox brought a paw to rub at his neck and his gaze shifted to look at the collar that lay on the floor.

"I've never been that …"

Nick looked at the rabbit.

"How do you deal with it? The emotion … t-the anger?"

The look Judy gave to the fox amazed him; a look filled with compassion.

"It's hard … and it doesn't get any easier. But after a while, you start to get use to it."

Nick returned the rabbit's gaze.

"Is it worth it? Cause I'm starting to wonder if the collar was doing me more good than harm."

Judy stood and walked to stand before the fox. She reached out and took his paw in hers.

"It's worth it. No question."

Her warm smile was all the proof Nick needed.


	17. Thirty Pieces of Silver

_"For Brutus, as you know, was Caesar's angel:_

_Judge, O you gods, how dearly Caesar loved him!_

_This was the most unkindest cut of all"_

_― William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar_

* * *

The ZPD cruiser rocked noticeably when the bulky frame of Chief Bogo swung the passenger door open and stepped out. The cape buffalo shut the door of the cruiser behind him and surveyed the scene in front of him with a grunt of frustration.

On the darkness of the early evening the lights from half a dozen squad cars erratically painted the warehouse and surrounds in brilliant swaths of blues, reds, and purples. The jarring flicker of the lights assaulted the eyes from nearly every angle, and Bogo saw that a few of the officers had even put on sunglasses to dampen the impact.

The buffalo stomped his way through the field of cars towards the back of an ambulance that was parked next to one of the two SWAT vans. As he approached, he saw the elephantine form of Lieutenant Francine Pennington directing some officers. The elephant turned and greeted the chief as soon as her large ears heard his distinctive stride.

"Chief. We've got the immediate area around the warehouse cordoned off. Borov and the rest of the Razorbacks are over there." The elephant pointed to a SWAT van behind her. "Our perps gave two of them a solid thrashing, but the EMTs say the only lasting damage is to their pride."

"Where is Hopps?"

"She's getting looked at by the medics right now, sir. When I saw her she looked fine, if a bit shaken."

Bogo snorted in irritation.

"And our suspects?"

"Male Red Fox, no ID - looks to be in his late twenties, early thirties; and a Male Timber Wolf – also no ID – probably late forties, early fifties."

"A fox and a single wolf took out two of Borov's?" Bogo asked with the hint of a smile.

Francine smiled smugly and nodded.

"And what about the rest of the predators?"

Francine frowned.

"We think the others managed to sneak out through a drainage pipe while the fox and wolf covered their escape. Probably had a boat stashed by the harbor. They could be anywhere by now."

Bogo brought a hoof to rub at the nucleus of an impending headache that was forming behind his horns.

"Fantastic. The press is going to love this …" He sighed, "Good work, Lieutenant. It's going to be a long night. Go brief Sergeant McHorn, he'll relieve you."

"Yes sir!" The elephant saluted sharply.

The chief quickly returned the salute.

"Francine, that's not necessary. This isn't the military. Now go get some sleep."

"You got it Chief."

Bogo grumbled in exasperation. He had two major problems to deal with: first was Hopps, the damned spitfire. And the second … well the second was walking towards him from around the side of the SWAT van.

Captain Pyotr Borov had been on the force as long as the Chief, though back in the early days the gray boar was a second-rate officer at best. Most in the department thought Borov would lazily spend his entire career on patrol, never getting past Sergeant. But after the savage crisis, the sudden lack of mammal-power thrust a number of less than exemplary officers into positions that were undeserved.

Borov had been promoted to Lieutenant in the blink of an eye and been given command of a SWAT team. It was there that the boar really began to make a name for himself. In the aftermath of the crisis, the boar's team – chiefly comprised of boars and warthogs handpicked by the new lieutenant – had efficiently and ruthlessly responded to a number of high profile 'civil' disturbances. This had earned his team the moniker 'Razorbacks' and catapulted Borov into the limelight. The boar's ego had swelled, and even Bogo had to admit (albeit reluctantly) that his successes were instrumental in restoring the populace's trust in the ZPD.

But since he'd become chief, Borov had been a constant thorn in Bogo's side. He was egotistical, short-tempered, border-line insubordinate, and … well, boorish!

But he'd gone too far this time. He had no authorization to muster his squad without notifying the Chief, let alone launch an unplanned raid on the Times! It was outrageous, and Bogo fully intended to make his displeasure known.

The captain noticed the towering buffalo as he rounded the van, his face flickering in surprise before a smirk stretched the boar's muzzle.

"Chief! Come to congratulate me in person then?"

Bogo stepped up to tower over the boar, leveraging his height and mass to cut as intimidating a figure as possible.

"Give me one good reason why I don't strip you of your badge and kick your sorry ass out onto the street."

"Now, now Bogo - I was just following orders." Borov with a hint of mockery.

"Oh really? I do not seem to recall issuing any instructions to assemble a raid."

The boar scoffed.

"Really, Chief? When I got the call from the Mayor about the situation, I just assumed you'd been informed."

"You work for the ZPD, Borov! NOT the mayor's office."

The buffalo poked a hoof at the boar's chest.

"Don't think for a minute I don't know what's really going on here. If you know what's good for you, Captain, you'll keep in mind where your loyalties should lie."

The boar glared and crossed his arms.

"I'd be very careful if I were you. I mean, it just sounded like you were threatening me."

The buffalo bent over to loom over Borov.

"I am. Did you really think interrogation recordings just 'disappear'? Or perhaps the medic reports complaining about 'excessive use of force'? I have so much on you that even your friends at City Hall will leave you out to dry."

Bogo straightened himself up to his full height.

"Don't fuck with me, Captain. I'll win. Is that clear?"

The boar curled his muzzle in a sneer, not bothering to hide his contempt.

"Perfectly … sir."

"Excellent." The buffalo gave a smug smile of his own, "Now I expect to see you and your team running drills. Can't have a fox and wolf getting the better of our SWAT teams now can we?"

Borov glared at first, but then a cruel smile found its way onto his face.

"Oh they didn't tell you? The wolf's an old pal, a dear 'friend' of ours from the old days."

Bogo arched his brow and narrowed his gaze at the boar.

"Well Chief, I won't keep you … I'm sure Mikey is dying to see his old partner again."

The boar laughed cruelly as he walked away Bogo.

The buffalo brought a hoof to his forehead where the ache had developed into a full-blown migraine.

Mike. That complicated things.

Bogo sighed in exasperation. He would have to deal with one problem at a time.

* * *

The buffalo found the rabbit sitting out the back of one of the ambulances, wrapped in a reflective blanket and being looked over by a pig paramedic.

"… telling you that I'm fine, really. They didn't even get close to me." Judy was saying.

"I'm sure, Officer. But I've got to do my job and make certain you're alright." The pig replied, and then noticed the chief. Judy followed the pig's gaze and when she saw the buffalo her ears fell behind her with a quiet flop.

The buffalo addressed the paramedic.

"How is she?"

"Officer Hopps here looks fine. She's good to go, but I'd recommend she take it easy for the next couple of days."

"And what about the fox and wolf?"

The paramedic's expression darkened.

"Listen, I don't know what you did to those predators but you're damn lucky the fox is still breathing. His collar was completely drained, and he had one nasty arrhythmia. That fox was a hair's breadth away from cardiac arrest."

The pig looked at the chief accusingly, and Bogo saw an undercurrent of anger in the paramedic's gaze.

"The wolf fared better, but not much. They really should go to the hospital."

Bogo sighed and his shoulder's dropped.

"I'm afraid that's out of my hands, the mayor's office has made that quite clear. Do what you can, but they're coming with us."

The pig squared his jaw and went to open his mouth in protest until it dawned on him who he was talking to.

"Fine, Chief. But I want it noted that this is against my better judgement."

"Of course."

The paramedic left to get the fox and wolf ready for transport. Bogo turned to Hopps when they were alone.

"I was under the impression that rabbits have exceptional hearing. Is that not correct?"

Judy blinked in confusion.

"Uh … No sir, that's right."

"So you did hear me explicitly tell you 'no heroics', right?"

"Y-yes sir, but I can-"

"So tell me, Lieutenant; what part of 'radio in if you see anything suspicious' led to me getting a call from the mayor that you were being held hostage by predators?"

"What? The mayor?"

The buffalo grunted in frustration, "Apparently some concerned predator called the mayor's office to report that you were being held in the warehouse."

"But sir, I was never held hostage … "

"Oh? So what exactly prevented you from radioing for back up?"

Judy's thoughts turned to everything she'd seen: the two wolves – Larry and Garry, the look on the faces of each of the predators as they had their collar's removed, the naked joy on display as carts on the Roar-A-Coaster thundered past.

Sympathy, and the growing fear that the collars weren't the harmless panacea she'd been told they were.

"Sir, it was an amusement park for predators. Nothing sinister about that but … they have a collar key."

"Yes Hopps, I know."

"You knew?"

Bogo snorted.

"Do you really think something this big just appears over night?"

Judy furrowed her brow in confusion.

"Wait, if you knew then why did you send me out there to investigate 'suspicious deliveries'? "

"Two reasons: the predators have been bribing somebody in the department to look the other way. I needed you to radio it in so that I could see how my short list of suspects reacted. And second, I needed hard evidence. Everything I had up to that point was circumstantial.

"But now – in no small part thanks to your recklessness and impulsivity – I have a PR nightmare and no clue who the predators were bribing."

For her part Judy looked chastised, but then quickly perked up.

"Sir you don't understand; this is way bigger than just some predators with a collar key!"

Bogo grunted in surprise.

"When I was in the warehouse, I … I talked with Wilde."

"You what!?"

"I confronted him in the manager's office, and as we were talking someone tried to shoot him through the window with some kind of blue substance.

"Wilde freaked out when he saw it. He said it was some kind of serum designed to make mammals go savage."

Bogo arched a brow.

"And you believe him? A fox?"

"No, not on his word alone." Judy said defensively, "But if there's even a slight change that he's right, then we've got to investigate!"

"We? Hopps, I'm putting you on desk duty for the rest of the week. "

"But sir!" Judy protested.

"We're going to comb over the warehouse. If there's any truth to that fox's crazy story, then the detectives from Vice will investigate. But right now you need to go home, Hopps."

The rabbit's ears again fell behind her.

"Hopps, you're a good officer. You're driven and hard-working, but you need to learn some patience. I've lost officers before, Hopps. I could easily have lost one today. This isn't a punishment, just a chance to reflect."

"Yes sir." The rabbit said meekly.

"Good, now go home and I'll see you-"

" **TRAITOR**!"

The word was born from a snarling growl.

Bogo and Judy turned to see Officer Hirsch struggling to hold back a black furred wolf, arms cuffed behind his back.

The chief closed his eyes, and Judy saw that the normally stoic buffalo was steeling himself.

Bogo opened his eyes and stepped up to the wolf.

"Mike."

"Oh you remember me? How flattering, I'm so honored." The wolf growled.

"What the hell were you doing here?"

"Don't act like you care."

Bogo sighed, "You know I can't protect you from this."

"No! Of course not." Mike laughed bitterly, "I mean, you wouldn't even stand up for your partner of four years …"

"Mike someone had to keep the peace, and I could-"

"Keep the peace!? The peace?" The wolf spat incredulously. " **That's** how you justify this?"

Mike gestured to his collar with his muzzle.

"But hey, you know what? Who am I to judge? It sure as hell worked out for you didn't it? You always were gunning for chief."

Bogo's expression was impassive, but Judy saw how tensely he clenched his hooves.

"And didn't even cost you much did it? Just your honor and self-worth." Mike mocked. "How's life as a gelding?"

"What do you want from me, Mike."

"I want you to look me in the eyes and tell me that you honestly believe you did the right thing. If you can do that, I'll roll. I'll tell you whatever the fuck you want."

The intensity of Bogo's glare could have etched titanium, but the buffalo said nothing.

"You can't do it, can you." Mike scoffed.

Bogo turned away from the wolf.

"Take him to the station."

"I **knew** it. You're a coward, Bogo!"

The wolf snarled as Officer Hirsch muscled him into the back of a cruiser.

"You don't deserve that badge, never did!"

Judy alone saw the flicker of shame in the buffalo's eyes.


	18. Promises

_"I was trying to feel some kind of good-bye. I mean I've left schools and places I didn't even know I was leaving them. I hate that. I don't care if it's a sad good-bye or a bad good-bye, but when I leave a place I like to know I'm leaving it. If you don't you feel even worse."_

_― J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye_

* * *

The night nurse came to check on him every half hour, give or take two to five minutes. The tall, slim springbok was quiet on her hooves. Had Nick not been paying close attention to her movements, her presence would have gone completely unnoticed on a number of occasions. It was a good skill for a night nurse to have, Nick supposed. The fox doubted patients were ever disturbed when she floated into the room.

But it made what the fox was planning that much more difficult. He'd have to rely less on auditory cues, and more on timing. But despite himself, Nick was impressed by her grace. In another life, she could have been a dancer.

It was a quarter to midnight when Nick again saw the gazelle alight into the room. She smiled kindly at the fox, who lay half-reclined in a hospital bed and looked to be idly watching a television that was mounted in the wall opposite him.

"Still awake, Officer?" The springbok asked with a smile.

"Hmm … only just. Think I'll try and get some shut eye." Nick said and turned the TV off.

"Well, are you comfy? I can get some more pillows or blankets if you need any."

Nick almost felt guilty.

"Nah, I'm feeling plenty comfortable. Thanks."

"My pleasure." The gazelle said cheerily and – after checking his vitals – walked to the door.

The gazelle paused in the doorway.

"Would you like me to turn the lights off?"

"Yes, thank you."

With a perfunctory _click_ the lights in the room blinked out. It wasn't exactly dark – especially to any creature with night vision – but it was much easier on the sensitive eyes of the fox.

He considered making his move now.

_The most important thing to remember, Nicholas, is that you can only cut the fabric once._

As a child, Nick loved watching his father at work. John Wilde seemed to have an effortless dexterity and elegance as he trimmed, cut and sewed. It bespoke decades of practice, but to the young kit it was magic. Nick spent many nights in the back of his father's shop watching him hem a gown or fit a suit. He marveled at how his father was so precise, even as they talked long into the evening. Every night his father showed him how important patience and planning were to his craft.

It was a lesson Nick would apply here.

Nick felt a tide of fatigue begin to lap at the edges of his consciousness; it had been a long day, and the fox wanted to nothing other than to slip into the warm embrace of sleep. At the least it would give him a break from the tempest of his own thoughts.

But he couldn't rest here, not in a hospital of all places.

Twenty-seven minutes of staving off sleep later, Nick caught a glimpse of the nurse passing through the doorway again. The fox feigned sleep, but a trained observer would have caught the telltale twitch as his ears swiveled to track the springbok's movements.

When he was certain that the nurse had left, Nick's eyes popped open and he slid out of the hospital bed. He had to move quickly. The fox darted to the counter where clothes had been laid out and quickly put them on, throwing the napkin of an examination gown to the side.

He sidled up to the doorway and glanced up and down the hallway. He could make out the distant forms of a few nurses here and there, but nobody was looking his way. The fox darted across the hallway to an empty examination room across the way.

Nick made his way to the window of the room and opened it. The cool breeze of the night air bristled through his fur, and he looked down to the ground below. The room was on the second story and overlooked a small garden, at the center of which was a palm tree that easily rose forty feet into the air.

The fox weighed his options.

He could turn around and try to scurry his way out the front door, an action that would more than likely end up with him being stopped and at the very least noticed. He could look for another way out, but time was against him. He had thirty minutes (plus or minus two to five) before he was made, and he wanted to be well away from the hospital before then.

But the fox wasn't super keen on jumping out a window to a tree.

A crash echoed down the hallway startling the fox. Nick spun to face the door, and then dived underneath a nearby examination table.

Crouched on all fours, Nick stared at the door for a count of ten. When no other sounds were forthcoming, the fox let out the breath he'd been holding and looked back to the window. He'd have to make a decision soon or –

"So sorry, Officer Wilde. I hope that didn't … Officer?"

Nick could only sigh. Nothing had gone according to plan today, why should this have?

"Okay … window it is." The fox muttered and leapt into the night.

* * *

Bucky and Pronk's latest argument had just reached the "Shut up! No you shut up!" phase when Judy pushed open the door to her apartment, which meant she had about fifteen minutes to the "I'm sorry. No, I'm sorry" phase. And then about ten until either blissful silence, or the dreaded rhythmic pounding against her apartment wall.

But the rabbit couldn't summon any effort to care. She dragged her paws up to her apartment and stood there, staring at the door. Unable to move.

Pronk made an empty threat to storm out and Bucky pretended not to be affected.

"Fine! Go then, see if I care!"

"Fine! I will!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

Judy barely heard the argument. She felt like she was falling, like the very floor underneath her had given way.

The door to the neighboring apartment flew open and Pronk stepped halfway out. The oryx was struggling to pull on a coat, a maneuver Judy had long ago deduced was his way of stalling before the inevitable reconciliation.

Most of the time, Judy was amused by the Oryx-Antlerson's antics. Their arguments were comically predictable, reminding her of nothing so much as Rabbit and Catstello. But even the habitually sunny Judy had frequently had her patience worn out. If it got too out of hand, she'd angrily bang on the wall and tell them to knock it off. To their credit, Bucky and Pronk would always apologize and continue their "discussion" in angry shout-whispers.

Pronk noticed Judy standing and staring at her door, and sighed wearily.

"Look, now you've gone and annoyed the bunny cop!"

" **I** annoyed the bunny cop!? **Me?** " Bucky scoffed from the other side of the half-open door.

Pronk looked back at Judy and said, "Look, I'm sorry. You've probably had a hard day, but Bucky-"

Pronk stopped midsentence. Judy hadn't looked up.

Bucky's head poked out the doorway and said, "Don't you put this on me Pronk!" Pronk shushed him and pointed at the bunny.

Ears down, Hopps remained impassive. They had never seen Judy look so unequivocally distraught. Bucky and Pronk looked to each other and said in unison.

"I'm sorry."

They blinked owlishly at each other and once more said in concert.

"Forgiven."

They blinked again.

"We've gotta' help the bunny." Pronk said.

"Yeah … Hey, Judy? Are you, are you alright?"

Pronk reach out a hoof and gently place it on Judy's shoulder.

With the sudden contact, Judy seemed to snap back to reality. She blinked in confusion and looked between Bucky and Pronk.

"Oh … hey guys. Sorry, I didn't mean to bother you." The bunny said softly.

Bucky and Pronk shared a look.

"Hey bunny, you're not doing alright are you?" Pronk asked, thought his tone made it clear it wasn't really a question.

"No guys, it's just been a long day and I'm-" Judy unconvincingly protested.

"Did something happen? Was it the fox cop?" Bucky interjected.

The fox cop …

Nick.

The dam burst. For several seconds, Bucky and Pronk stood in shock as they watched tears stream down the muzzle of their neighbor, the 'invincible bunny cop.'

Pronk bent down and offered an embrace to Judy, one the rabbit readily took. As she wept quietly, the oryx looked to Bucky for help.

Bucky snapped his hooves as an idea came to him.

"Bring her in, I'll get the pudding snacks."

Judy didn't resist when Pronk lifted her up and walked her into their apartment, kicking the door shut behind them. He crossed the small distance to the bed and sat Hopps down on the edge. Bucky joined them moment later holding three pudding snacks, which he offered to Pronk and Judy. The rabbit sniffled and – after a few deep breaths – took the pudding cup and plastic spoon. Bucky sat on the other side of the rabbit from Hopps.

"Bucky turned me on to these." Pronk said after a minute passed in silence, wiggling the pudding cup in his hoof. "They really work. But only if you save them for the hard times."

Eyes cast down, Judy could only nod. Bucky added his two cents to the conversation in the form of noisy slurping.

"Bucky! Heart-to-heart first, pudding second!" Pronk scolded.

"Oh, right. Sorry, I get excited." Bucky said around a mouthful of pudding.

Judy couldn't help but giggle.

"Thanks guys, this is … you two are really nice." She said and sniffed.

"Score! Bunny cop thinks I'm nice!" Bucky pumped his fist in celebration.

" **We're** nice Bucky, plural."

"So? That includes me …"

"Bucky …"

"Alright, alright. We're nice."

Judy knew they were trying to cheer her up, and was touched. She pulled the plastic cover off the pudding. It was chocolate vanilla swirl, her favorite as a kit. She dipped the spoon into the pudding and brought it to her mouth.

And for a blissful moment, she was nine again. Enjoying the pudding Sharla the ewe had pulled from her lunch and given to Judy as thanks for stopping Gideon the day before.

They were right, the pudding did work.

Pronk and Bucky took this as a cue to dig into their own cups, and the three mammals ate in companionable silence. When at last the three had finished Bucky put a comforting hoof over Judy's shoulder.

"So … wanna tell us what's got you down bunny?" Bucky asked.

"Yeah, what's the matter?" Pronk added his concern.

Judy sighed wearily and looked at her forepaws.

"I don't really understand it, but somethings wrong with Nick."

"Fox cop!?" asked Bucky in Pronk in chorus.

"Did he hurt you or something? Cause I swear, I'll give him a-" Pronk began.

"A what, Pronk? You can't hardly the groceries let alone fight a cop. Or a fox."

"Hey, I've got a size advantage …"

"Guys, no! It's just that Nick's … well he's fine. I mean physically, at least."

Judy swallowed hard.

"But he … He doesn't remember. It's like he's someone else, with a different set of memories. A different life."

Bucky and Pronk were staring at the rabbit intently as she spoke.

"I don't know what to do. He's my partner … my **best** friend. I have to help him, but I don't know how."

Judy looked up at Bucky and Pronk, eyes misty.

Bucky pulled the rabbit into a comforting hug and said, "This sounds like a two pudding cup problem."

Suddenly, Judy's phone began to vibrate angrily in her pocket. Bucky released the bunny and Judy quickly fished her phone out and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Officer Hopps? Judy?" The voice was feminine, uncertain.

"Yes, speaking. What-"

"Oh thank god, Nicky told me to call you if ever something happened …"

It was Nick's mom. The rabbit could clearly hear the worry and fear in the vixen's voice, a strong departure from the soothing tone she normally had.

"Mrs. Wilde!? What's going on?"

"They just told me … Nick's gone missing from the hospital."

* * *

Happytown was still a slum. That hadn't changed.

Nor had the myriad of winding alleys, cramped tenements or occasional empty lot filled with gravel and detritus from the deterioration of the old buildings surrounding it.

It hadn't always been like this. The district had been built as a part of an initiative by the city to build quality, low-cost housing just over seventy years ago. And it had worked, at the start. But as Zootopia grew larger and larger, much of the funding that was going to help maintain Happytown was re-allocated to a project deemed much more important: the climate control system.

And in those days, tensions between predator and prey were much more overt than the present. As predators faced nearly insurmountable barriers to entry in almost every prey dominated industry (which was most of them), they represented a disproportional amount of Happytown residents.

As Happytown began to decay, the ZPD stopped patrolling the district anywhere near as regularly. Gangs and crime quickly filled the void.

But as bad as it could be, it was where Nick grew up. The neighborhood he grew up in had a very tight knit community; everyone looked out for the best interests of one another. Nobody else was going to. And Nick's father was very well thought of and respected, and not just because of his natural charm. He was a single father making an honest living and doing everything he could to look after his son. Everybody in the neighborhood wanted them to succeed.

_If only anyone else had_ , Nick thought.

The fox was moving with a purpose through the streets and alleys, hugging his arms tight against him, eyes turned to the sidewalk in front of him. It was all familiar, too familiar to be comforting. He wasn't sure what he hoped he would find when he arrived; everything the same, or nothing the same.

Finally, Nick slowed his pace and came to a stop before the corner of an old brick building. The store on the corner was covered in graffiti that overlapped garishly. But even in the darkness of the night Nick could make out the faded letters of the store's sign.

_Wilde Tailoring_

_Formal Wear & Attire_

The storefront looked the same as Nick remembered, sans the graffiti. But that hardly surprised him; it had been fifteen years since he'd been there. Or rather, fifteen years sense he'd been to his version.

Nick slowly approached the store. The interior was dark, and Nick couldn't make out much. He made his way up the steps to the door, briefly marveling at how the second step was just as wobbly as when he was a kit. His dad had never got around to fixing it.

The fox tried the door and found it locked. So he reached into his pocket and fished out a set of keys. He flipped through them like a rolodex until he found the one he was looking for.

The door clicked when Nick turned the key and the fox pushed the door open, a puff of dust billowing and swirling around it.

The store was in surprisingly good shape. An old cash-register sat, door open on the counter collecting dust. The racks that used to hold a variety of shirts, jackets, and dresses lay bare but for a few wooden hangers that were scattered about. But there was something that immediately caught Nick's eye.

A large mannequin stood behind the counter wearing a half-finished navy jacket. One that couldn't have been there.

* * *

The customer had been a tall leopard, Nick remembered that very clearly. He had tussled the fur on the young kit's head after Nick had welcomed into the shop and directed him to where his father was hemming some pants behind the counter.

_"This your son?"_

John had beamed a warm smile at the leopard.

" _Yes sir, that's my boy."_

" _Looks like a good kid."_

_"The best. Already a better salesmammal than me."_

They had laughed and the leopard explained that he needed a new jacket. Further, the leopard was hoping he could get it as soon as possible – within two days preferably – and he was willing to pay more for the prompt service.

His father had considered the request for a minute and they settled on a price.

_"I'll have your jacket ready for you, day after tomorrow. You have my word."_

The leopard had thanked his father profusely and left. John had closed early and spent the entire rest of the day cutting fabric and sewing. The torso of the jacket was almost complete, and John had just begun to attach one of the sleeves when they'd gotten the phone call.

Nick had started the day with two parents. Now all he had was his father.

The day that followed was the worst of Nick's life. John did his best to comfort his son, but the grief was too fresh for either of them. When sleep finally overcame him, Nick had been glad it was dreamless.

The next morning his father had taken him back to the shop and set him down on the counter. John had returned to the jacket and resumed his work. Nick watched his father work in silence.

In the early afternoon the jacket was finished. The leopard came in just before closing time and was elated. As the leopard turned to leave he asked John about Nick's obvious dejection.

_"Is he Ok? I hope everything's alright."_

_"We had a bad day yesterday."_

_"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that."_

_"Thank you. But don't worry, we'll pull through."_

The leopard had nodded and left.

Nick's father had walked to the door and locked it, flipping the sign from Open to Closed. And then paused there for a minute.

When he turned around, Nick saw tears gathering in his father's eyes. Nick had never seen his father cry.

John walked over to where Nick sat on the counter and pulled him into an embrace.

_"Son, I want you to understand something. Something very important."_

Nick stared wide-eyed at his father.

_"I told that customer that I would have his jacket finished today. I gave him my word. So no matter how bad I feel, no matter how much I want to just curl up and cry I had to come in and finish."_

John took a deep, shuddering breath.

_"I will_ _**never** _ _break a promise. Ever."_

Nick never forgot how his father had pulled him close to his chest.

_"I want you to know, Nicholas. I promise to always be there for you. No matter what."_

The two foxes held each other and shared their grief for the rest of the day.


	19. Slipping

_It is a fool's prerogative to utter truths that no one else will speak_

_\- Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, Vol. 3: Dream Country_

* * *

The images were rapid. Shadowy. Jagged. Flickering glimpses of places and things, a swirling maelstrom of blacks and whites.

The fox's head was filled with static, the roaring of water crashing against rocks. He was being tossed around, swirled and churned in a riptide of confusion and half-thoughts.

But occasionally, he broke the surface:

_"I stood up for you, and you lied to me … you liar!"_

A gasp of air.

_"… make you feel better about your sad, miserable life?"_

A moment of stark clarity before again falling into the roiling tumult. Struggling and gasping for some kind of understanding.

_".. jerk who never had the guts to try to be anything more than a popsicle hustler!"_

The breaks were more frequent; he was beginning to feel which way was up. And as the fox struggled towards the surface, the sounds changed. The crashing and burbling of waves began to fade, replaced with the dim murmur of voices. The waters began to calm and Nick felt himself being lifted towards the surface.

The fox was suddenly aware of his limbs and extremities. Nick could tell he was leaning against a wall, his arms at his sides. Everything felt thick, heavy. A languor suffused his body, and he struggled to will his limbs to move.

After what seemed an age, he felt his paw twitch. Progress.

"Hey … hey there Nick. Take it easy, huh?"

A gruff voice, but one Nick knew.

With a herculean effort, Nick slowly forced his eyes to open. He was immediately met with a bright, antiseptic white light.

Nick shut his eyes immediately, a quiet groan escaping his lips.

"Don't rush, pup. You had it a lot worse than I did."

Nick felt a paw tap against the side of his muzzle. He shook his head and again struggled to open his eyes. When at last Nick was able to them open, his vision was blurry. He could just make out the dark furred lupine figure of Mike.

Nick grunted as he began to pull himself up to a sitting position, a set of paws helping him up. Everything was sore. The fox blinked furiously to clear his vision.

"How are you feeling, Nick?" the wolf asked.

"Not exactly an improvement from yesterday, but after everything I've been through I consider that a win." The fox said glibly.

Mike chuckled at that, and Nick took a moment to get his bearings. He was sitting propped up against a concrete wall in what the fox recognized immediately as the main holding cell of Precinct 1. He'd been in here loads of times to throw in or haul out perps for questioning.

The first time he'd been in the room, he'd felt a palpable sense of relief that he was seeing it as an officer and not as an arrestee. Given his previous occupation he had half expected to end up on the other side of the bars someday. But since donning the uniform, Nick had been glad that getting thrown in the slammer was one less thing to worry about.

The irony of the situation did not escape Nick.

Unlike the rest of the building, the holding cell was not designed to be a lofty testament to the grandeur of the city and the ZPD. The holding cell was cold and utilitarian, lacking any adornment. White concrete walls, dark gray tiled floors, metal benches, and a wall of steel bars. The cell was designed to hold about a dozen mammals of various sizes, though in Nick's experience the room seldom held half that.

So it surprised Nick to see that the room was packed with nearly two dozen mammals; standing, crouching, or sitting wherever they could find room. The lack of space was exacerbated by the two feet of distance everyone in the room was keeping from the bars. Another oddity; perps usually loved to hang on the bars, like they thought they were desperados in a some terrible western.

Nick brought a paw to scratch at the back of his head.

"I take it we weren't able to make a miraculous escape?"

Mike shook his head and said, "We did give them one hell of a bloody nose for their trouble. Nice moves."

Looking past Mike, Nick saw that – just like the bars – the rest of the mammals in the cell were giving the two of them a wide berth. A few watched them with mild interest; Nick caught the gaze of a raccoon who quickly looked away.

"You still with me Nick?"

"Yeah … What's up with that?" Nick cocked his head to indicate the generous space.

Mike glanced furtively.

"If I had to guess, I'd say your connection to Koslov has earned you some deference."

"Great …" Nick sighed and rubbed at his temples. "So, how long was I out?"

"About eight hours."

"What'd I miss?"

"Not much. They threw us in here once they were sure we weren't going to die on them."

"How gracious. You been questioned yet?"

Mike frowned. "No, they haven't asked me anything."

"Why would we-" Nick caught himself, "would _they_ wait?"

The wolf stared at Nick for a long moment.

"I don't think they want to talk to me."

"Fantastic, isn't that just my-"

A metallic squealing pierced through the murmuring din of the predators in the holding cell. Many reflexively covered their ears from the cruel noise. Nick knew immediately it was the door to the room; his many requests for someone to oil the hinges on the door having fallen on deaf ears many times.

Heavy thudding footsteps and the jingling of keys preceded the arrival of two officers, a hippo and an elephant. Nick recognized them as Carl Higgins and Francine Pennington. Francine carried a set of keys in her trunk and Higgins spun a set of handcuffs around one of the fingers of his right hoof.

All eyes were on the two officers as they made their way across the room in front of the bars. Nick noted that they too gave the bars a wide berth. Higgins turned and opened a gray breaker box on the wall Nick had been too preoccupied to notice. The hippo reached in and flipped several switches.

A prevailing hum that had been dancing at the edge of his hearing suddenly stopped, and Nick was keenly aware of the sudden auditory void.

It was only then that Francine stepped up and began to put the keys into the door to the cell.

Nick made the connection.

"They electrified the bars?" he whispered to Mike.

The wolf shrugged wearily, "What are we going to do about it, sue?"

The door to the cell swung open and Higgins stepped into the doorway.

"Nicholas Wilde. We're going for a walk." The hippo said brusquely.

Suddenly subject to the combined gazes of all the mammals in the room, Nick swallowed hard and got to his paws with Mike's help.

"Good luck, Nick." The wolf said with a pat on Nick's shoulder.

The fox walked – slightly shaky at first – to stand before Higgins.

"A walk, huh? Aren't you supposed to buy me a drink first?" Nick asked drolly.

Higgins glared, clearly not amused.

"Real cute, fox. Hold out your paws."

Nick did as instructed. The hippo cuffed his paws at the wrists. Higgins put a hoof on the fox's shoulder and directed him to step out of the cell.

Francine locked the cell behind him, and Higgins again flipped the switches in the breaker behind him. A deep bass hum reasserted its presence with a slight crackle and the smell of ozone.

Nick had time to take one last worried glance at Mike as he was led out into the depths of the precinct.

* * *

Lieutenant Hopps was dismayed to find a stack of paperwork quite literally as tall as her (sans ears) waiting on her desk when she groggily made her way into the precinct. As disheartening as the mound was, the rabbit decided there was nothing for it except to throw herself into the work with as much of her usual gusto as possible. She made steady progress all morning, and had halved the stack by the time she broke for lunch.

The TV in the break room was tuned to ZNN, footage of the police presence outside of the Times playing on loop. The handful of officers in the room were gathered around the set, talking quietly. Judy had seen the footage a million times last night after giving up the fight against her adrenaline induced insomnia. And having been present to the event itself, Judy had no desire to relive the experience any further.

She retrieved her lunch – an apple-kale salad – from a Tupperware container in the fridge and sat at one of the empty tables near the kitchenette. Ears drooping, the rabbit stabbed absently at the greens with a fork. Her thoughts kept turning back to the previous night now that they weren't occupied decrypting Officer Hayes' horrific hoofwriting.

She was conflicted, a feeling that was unfamiliar and acutely uncomfortable to the normally self-assured rabbit. She knew that what Wilde and the others doing was illegal and she knew the reason why. The very good reason why, as clearly illustrated by the savage otter she'd run into.

But how could she in good conscious ignore the look of joy she'd seen when those cubs and kits had their collars removed. How could she feel something was so unequivocally right when it was also patently illegal and dangerous?

And confusing the matter was that Wilde was nothing like she expected. The things he'd said still rang in her ears, and she continued to struggle to make sense of them all. Her paw found its way into her pocket and wrapped itself around the carrot pen he'd given her.

She'd played the recording again this morning. It was her voice on the pen, she had no doubt. And the badge he'd given her bore no indication that it was a fake.

Judy had all of the pieces, but the puzzle refused to take shape. Her stubborn refusal to accept the fox's story was becoming increasingly hard to justify.

So she held onto the badge and the pen. She wasn't able to bring herself to turn it over to evidence the night before. And by now the window of opportunity to do so without running the risk of being accused of tampering with evidence had long ago faded.

Judy sighed and shook her head.

_What am I doing?_ She wondered.

The sound of the news report suddenly intruded on her ruminations and the rabbit's ears shot up.

"Details are still hazy at this point Peter, and the ZPD has yet to officially comment on the operation. But, our sources are suggesting that the warehouse was being used as a training ground by predatory elements."

Judy blinked rapidly. Predatory elements?

"ZNN is now reporting that it that two officers involved in the raid last night were attacked and severely injured by two predators, who may have been exhibiting signs of savage regression."

One of the officers watching – Officer Lembu, an ox – leaned over the back of the couch he was seated at to look at Judy.

"You were there, right? Is that true?"

"No, that's not even close!" Judy protested.

"Some source they've got." Lembu said dismissively. "Trust the media to make a mountain out of a molehill. Just going to make our lives harder."

A source?

The thought set Judy's nose into a spasm of furious twitching. The only mammals who had the details of last night's events were the responding officers.

Someone was leaking information. False information.

_But why?_ she wondered. All _this was going to do was stir up a panic!_

"You alright there, LT?" The ox was staring, eyebrow raised.

"Huh? Oh I'm fine but I've gotta go!" Judy said and shot out the door of the break room.

As she left, Judy heard Lembu turn back to the other officers and say, "She didn't even finish her lunch!"

The lieutenant turned at once towards Records. She needed to see who had access to the incident reports from last night. Armed with that shortlist of suspect, she could start trying to figure out where the leak was. Maybe that would get herself back in the Chief's good graces.

Hopps smiled to herself. The best part of her plan? Handling incident reports was technically a part of desk duty!

Judy's stride and the smile on her face broke once she made it into the main lobby of the precinct. On the other side of the front desk, Judy could make out the auburn shape of a fox being led towards the interrogation rooms by Pennington and Higgins. He was looking straight at her, eyes unwavering.

For a moment his emerald eyes held her amethyst, before she broke the gaze and looked quickly to the floor.

* * *

Higgins was milking it.

The hippo sat on the other side of the metal table in the interrogation room, thumbing through a comically over-sized file Nick knew was intended to intimidate him. Half of the papers were probably misprints from ZPD charity donation drive fliers pulled out of the copy room trash bin.

Nick couldn't help but smile. Interrogation was just another kind of con. Higgins was way out of his league.

Higgins made a show of nodding his head and tapping as though he was reviewing some particularly damning piece of evidence. Finally, he shut the file and crossed his hooves over it.

"Mr. Wilde. We've got you dead to rights."

A chuckle burst from the fox's muzzle.

"Oh do you? Well I'm quaking in my cuffs over here."

Higgins frowned. The fox wasn't giving the reaction he was hoping for.

"Yes. Not only did you assault an officer, but you were responsible for masterminding the creation of the Times and the procurement of an illegal collar key."

"No, no, no Carl. You're not supposed to lay everything out at once like that. You've got to keep something in reserve!" Nick chided.

"What did you call me?" the hippo looked startled.

"Your name. Carl Higgins. Unless that's changed …"

"Is that supposed to scare me? You're going to have to do better than-"

"You're 39 years old, born and raised in the Canal District. Your folks had a little place off Vine Street. It's not the Marches, but definitely not the kind of place you leave your doors unlocked."

Nick felt a twinge of guilt. Higgins was a good officer, fiercely loyal and protective. But the only way Nick was going to get through this interrogation was if he could get under Carl's skin. Nick put on a smug smile.

"On Tuesdays and Thursdays you coach a junior softball team in Veldt Park. Your niece is the star pitcher. Real nice young mammal, wants to be a chemist."

The color drained from Higgin's face and his ears flapped in anger.

"Don't you **dare** bring my niece into this. You predators think you can scare us? Huh?"

Nick broadened his grin but said nothing.

"I've half a mind to wipe that grin off your face, fox. Don't test me."

Nick chuckled externally, but regretted what he was about to say next. He was betraying the confidence of a mammal he'd come to think of as a friend. Even though this wasn't really the same person, Nick couldn't help but feel dirty.

"Now now, careful Carl. We wouldn't want _another_ reprimand now would we?"

Carl's nostrils flared and he shot to his feet, the metal chair clattering to the floor behind him.

"I'll show you a god damn **reprimand**!"

Nick recoiled back from the much larger mammal, desperately wishing he wasn't cuffed to the table. The fox was about to curse himself for pushing Higgins too far when the door to the interrogation room opened.

"Sergeant. Take a break."

It was Francine.

"Did you hear what he said!? I can't just-"

"Carl. I said, take a break."

Pennington's tone brooked no argument. It helped that the elephant towered over the relatively diminutive hippo.

"Fine, LT."

Carl shot Nick a glance dripping with loathing and stormed out of the room.

Francine took a deep breath, and bent to retrieve the file that had fallen to the floor during Higgin's outburst. One of the pages slipped out as she did so.

The ZPD charity of the month was evidently the Anti-Myxomatosis League. Nick idly wondered if that was Hopps' doing.

Francine righted the chair and sat down, cutting a comically large figure in the relatively small chair. She fixed Nick with a direct stare.

A minute passed in silence.

"That wasn't very nice, you know." Francine said at last.

Nick raised an eyebrow. Francine had always impressed Nick with how effectively she could mask her emotions. It made her difficult to gauge, especially in situations like this. Unsure of what angle she was playing, Nick decided honesty might confuse her.

"No it wasn't. For what it's worth, I regret having to do that. Carl's a good guy."

The briefest flicker of surprise, and then Francine was again unreadable. _She'd be fantastic at poker_ , Nick thought.

"Alright. Dazzle me, Mr. Wilde." Francine said at last.

"I'm flattered, but I don't think I'm your type."

The elephant gave a hollow laugh and shook her head.

"Funny. I'm sure you'll have the whole courtroom in hysterics."

The elephant fixed Nick with a piercing look.

"Mr. Wilde. You're going to prison for a long time. A long time. So let's stop playing games. If you ever want a chance to be a free mammal again, you've got to work with us."

The elephant slid the file in front of her and opened it.

"We know about your connection to Koslov. He's a much bigger fish than you, Wilde. You play ball with us … help us nab him, and we can make things a lot better for you."

Her voice was confident, measured. Her tone was that of a professor stating ineffable facts. She was good.

"You still keeping the ring in your pocket?" Nick asked.

To her credit, Francine gave no reaction other than to look up at the fox.

"I'm sorry?"

"The ring. You keep it in your pocket. Can't wear it at work, mammals might notice and ask the wrong questions."

"Mr. Wilde, when you're ready to stop playing games I'll-" Francine began.

"Bob wasn't happy about it, was he?"

Her mask was failing. She looked shocked.

Nick gave a sad smile and said, "We're rooting for you, you know. Francine Trumpet has a nice ring to it."

Francine slowly stood, her gaze never leaving the fox. Wordlessly she walked to the door and stepped out.

And Nick was left on his own. He felt sick. That made two of them. Two colleagues whose secrets he'd betrayed. And it had been so easy.

He wished Judy – his Judy – were here.

Nick felt himself beginning to slip.

 


	20. Window

_GUILDENSTERN: It must be indicative of something other than the redistribution of wealth. He flips a coin to Rosencrantz, who looks at it._

_ROSENCRANTZ: Heads._

_GUILDENSTERN: A weaker man might be moved to reexamine his faith. If for nothing at least in the law of probability. He flips another coin to Rosencrantz._

_ROSENCRANTZ: Heads._

_GUILDENSTERN: Consider. One. Probability is a factor which operates within natural forces. Two. Probability is not operating as a factor. Three. We are now held within un- sub- or super-natural forces. Discuss._

\- _Tom Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead_

* * *

Nick's thoughts were a tangled mass of confusion, painful memories and disbelief.

He _knew_ his father had finished that coat. He _knew_ his mother was gone. But he couldn't deny the evidence right in front of him or the feeling of his mother's embrace that lingered, fresh in his mind. The inescapable conclusion had been bouncing around the interior of his skull all day, but he'd stubbornly refused to let it stick.

Nick glanced back at the half-finished jacket. John Wilde would have finished it if he could.

The only reason Nick had any chances in his life had been because of his father. After his mom had died, John had been more than just Nick's dad. He'd been his lifeline, the foundation that let Nick cobble together some semblance of a normal life.

Even after things had taken a turn for the worse, it was John's legacy that had kept Nick going. His father cast a long shadow in Nick's life. A shadow that was absent in the dusty bins and counters of the long abandoned shop.

Nick would find no answers here. A part of him regretted coming here, of the dreadful knowledge that what he _knew_ and what actually _was_ were not the same. But there was one last place he had to go, just to be sure.

With one last glance at the dusty, sepulchral interior of the shop, Nick turned and stepped out of the tailory and back onto the street.

* * *

The night was cool but not cold, Nick was thankful for that. The long walk to the docks would have been miserable otherwise.

The first thing the fox noticed as he approached the Wilde Times was an empty lot where the clinic should have stood. It looked exactly as it had before they'd set up Honey's "practice" there. Just a rough, gravely plot of land littered with crumpled newspaper, and cigarette butts. Nick walked to the center of the lot, idly kicking an empty beer bottle to the side.

"Damn … " Nick muttered to himself.

The fox started towards the warehouse ahead. With his keen vision he could make out the building down the road and across the bridge. It looked as dilapidated as he remembered, but knew that didn't mean much. They'd intentionally kept the exterior of the Times as it was to help camouflage its true purpose.

As Nick walked, he again wondered why he was out here. He couldn't explain it, but since realizing how radically things had changed he'd felt compelled. The fox was driven to see firsthand, to verify that everything that he'd built in his life, everything he'd strived and worked for had vanished. Maybe this was his way of starting to try and comprehend what had happened. Eliminate all possibility of denial.

Nick felt cool cobblestone under his paws as he stepped onto the bridge.

What was the next stage supposed to be? Depression? Anger? Well, either of those would be a welcome change for the fox. He felt numb, drained. Exhaustion weighed down each step the fox took, his tail dropping low to brush against the dirt and gravel on the bridge. Nick resolved to look for somewhere to sleep as soon as he was done. Maybe he could curl up under the bridge and-

_"Nick … Nick?"_

The fox all but jumped, whirling around to try and determine where the voice had come from. But before he could locate it, he heard the voice – Judy's – right behind him.

_"Oh Nick! Nighthowler's aren't wolves … "_

He spun around again, and his ears told him the rabbit should be right in front of him but his eyes saw nothing. No bunny cops, just an empty bridge.

_"... they're toxic flowers."_

The voice was trailing down the side of the bridge Blinking in confusion, Nick froze to the spot for a second. He heard Judy again, this time from the ditch below. The fox moved to the edge of the bridge and looked down.

_"… targeting predators on purpose and making them go savage."_

Down below Nick could see an old lawn chair, and upturned bucket and a discarded paper soda cup, but again failed to see Judy.

_"Wait! … waitpleasestop …"_

Judy's voice moved under the bridge, the echoes muffling the sound and making it tricky for Nick to make out more than a few words.

_" … Never forgive me … don't blame … ignorant … small-minded …"_

If he wanted to hear more, Nick would have to climb down into the ditch himself. He took a few quick steps to the edge and then stopped.

What the hell was going on? What was he doing?

His senses were at war; he neither saw, nor smelled Judy, but he definitely heard her voice. Was definitely _hearing_ her voice below him. Maybe he was going mad, starting to hear voices? What would he do-

_"… horrible friend … hurt you …"_

Nick clearly heard the distress in her voice, the hitch and half sobs. This settled the internal debate, the fox deftly moving to the end of the bridge.

_"… you were right all along …"_

Nick jumped over the side and slid down the ditch. When he reached the bottom, he turned to look under the bridge. He felt his jaw drop as he tried to comprehend what he was seeing.

The bright light of the afternoon sun shone through the tunnel under the bridge, clearly silhouetting two figures – both of whom he recognized. The first Nick recognized as Judy, dressed not in her uniform but in a pink flannel top and jeans. But the second figure … Nick had seen the fox before.

He'd seen this fox smiling at him out of a picture frame. It was _him_.

Nick blinked in shock and disbelief, unable to tear his gaze away.

As Nick felt the warm breeze of a summer afternoon blow down the tunnel to ruffle his fur, he watched as Judy thumped her head against the fox's chest. Nick watched as the other fox drew her into an embrace, not able to make out his softly spoken words.

At this Nick shook his head and glanced around him. It was pitch black all around him, behind him. A cool night on the docks.

But on the other side of that tunnel? Judy and the other fox stood in the light of the afternoon sun. Nick watched as they broke their embrace and scampered up the far side of the bridge.

Nick moved up his side of the bridge, pausing at the top. Ears and nose twitching, Nick couldn't make out any sign of the fox and rabbit he'd seen. Nick bolted to the edge of the bridge and looked down to see …

A ditch, dark and empty. No sun. No rabbit. No fox.

"The hell …" Nick backed away slowly, shaking his head. "Come on … keep it together Nick."

Nick took a few deep breaths to try and steady himself.

Nick growled in frustration and felt a strong urge to get as far away from that bridge as possible. He'd read enough Sheepen King to know this was bad. And Nick already had plenty of reasons to question his sanity; he didn't need any more. With a last look over his shoulder, Nick bolted for the warehouse.

* * *

The fox slowed to a walking pace when he got close to the building, his head still abuzz trying to understand what he'd seen. This struck him as a particularly cruel turn of events. Just when Nick had begun to accept the reality of his situation he went and saw … whatever that was.

And then it dawned on him … he _did_ know what that was. Judy had told him about the Night Howler case at the hospital. About how they'd fallen out after a bungled press conference and later made amends. But that was supposed to have happened more than a year ago, how could he have seen it?

All of this just served to reinforce the feeling that he was lost, that he didn't belong here. Not here in this – Nick wasn't sure what this was. Another version of the world he knew?

That other fox … that other him had treated Judy so tenderly. It was one thing to be told he'd forgiven Judy, and another to see himself do it.

As distracted as he was with his thoughts, Nick didn't immediately notice the wolf idly leaning – arms crossed – against the passenger side door of a sedan that was parked in front of the warehouse until he spoke.

"Need a lift?"

While Nick blinked in surprise, the wolf raised an eyebrow and gave a friendly smile.

It was the same wolf Nick had run into after fleeing from the apartment, the one he'd thought was crazy for claiming to have been a cop. Nick felt his hackles raise. He didn't like being followed, especially not by someone who probably _had_ been a cop. And Nick had more than enough surprises for the evening.

Nick had a strong impulse to bolt, but noticed that the wolf had made no motion towards him. His relaxed stance told Nick the wolf wasn't looking for a physical confrontation. And if the wolf had really intended to arrest him, he wouldn't have so carelessly given himself away when Nick had been distracted. The wolf wanted to talk, it seemed.

"Do I have a choice?" the fox asked after a beat.

The wolf gave a half-hearted shrug, the smile on his face unfaltering.

"Course. I couldn't force you if I wanted to – I'm retired, remember?"

Nick gave the wolf a suspicious look. The wolf returned it for a long moment before sighing and glancing at his feet.

"Ok, look … Bogo asked me to keep an eye on you. I think he figured you might try and slip out of the hospital or something. I'm just supposed to make sure you're safe and don't do anything stupid."

Nick studied the wolf's face carefully – either this guy was a top tier liar or was being earnest.

"It's past midnight … don't you have a family?" the fox asked, indicating the gold band around the wolf's finger.

"Yeah I do, but my mate and the pups are off visiting my in-law's. And besides, they can manage without me … they're off to college soon."

A wistful smile stretched the wolf's muzzle.

"Huh, where does the time go?"

The wolf and fox stood silent for a moment, the ambience of the city – a distant siren, the muffled drone of far off traffic – washed over them.

"So … why'd you come here?" the wolf enquired.

Nick was surprised to find that the question came from the wolf, for the fox had just opened his muzzle to pose it himself.

"I uh … I had to see this place again. Had to sort some old memories out. How'd you find me anyway?"

"I followed you from your dad's shop."

The wolf smiled at the surprise on the fox's face.

"Give me some credit kid … I _was_ a detective. Not that it was that hard to piece together. There aren't many foxes named Wilde."

Nick's gaze narrowed and he scrutinized the wolf.

"What do you _want_? If you're not here to arrest me, then what are you doing?"

"Look, I don't know you from Todd. Just your reputation. Or should I say, Officer Wilde's reputation."

The wolf fixed his gaze on Nick and continued:

"When I talked to Bogo, he seemed to think you might not be the same Nick he knew. And he said something about Cliffside."

The wolf looked down and seemed lost in thought for a minute.

"About thirty years ago, Bogo and I responded to a call at the asylum. We found a leopard inside, completely nuts. Never seen anything like it … The guy was on all fours, snarling. Feral. And he had this shock collar on that kept zapping him, whipping him into a frenzy."

This sounded all too familiar to Nick, and he couldn't help but let the surprise on his face show.

"The guy leapt at Bogo, tried to maul him. I had to tackle the cat, and it was a hell of a fight. It's how I got this little number."

The wolf pointed at a notch in his right ear.

"See, the ZPD trains you to subdue mammals, not animals. We were lucky to get through it with just a few scratches and a bite or two.

"The poor bastard died not too long after we subdued him, something in his system didn't like the tranquilizers I guess. We never found out how he got down there or got the collar.

"But we did find one thing. And it's bugged me for thirty years."

The wolf paused, scratching at the back of his neck.

"Forensics got a fur sample, found a match. The guy was a teacher at a high school in the rainforest district. No criminal record, just gave the sample as part of his teaching certificate.

"Bogo and I went down to the school to tell them what happened to their teacher, but when we got there …"

The wolf looked back at Nick, a haunting look in his eyes.

"The principal was surprised told us the leopard wasn't missing. He was teaching chemistry at that very moment. She took us down to the classroom, and sure enough there he was.

"The leopard who tore my ear and leapt at Bogo was wearing a pair of goggles and doing a demo in front of the class."

"What did you do?" Nick asked.

"We apologized to the principal, and high tailed it back to the morgue. The leopard's body was still there."

"The hell ..."

"Yeah, no kidding. Officially we listed the leopard as a John Doe who died of a drug overdose. Simple enough on paper, but I'll be damned if a case like that doesn't stick with you."

The wolf turned to face Nick, eyes narrowed.

"So that's why I'm out past midnight following a fox around the city. What ever happened to you happened to that leopard. And I aim to find out what."

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**So, uh … yeah. Been awhile, hasn't it? How are things?**

**Finally got through my writer's block and stopped being a lazy ass. I'm so sorry this took so long to get out, but I want to reassure you that this fic is not dead. Thank you all so much for your patience, and I will do everything I can to get chapters out much more quickly.**

**I wasn't completely idle though! I've been editing a bunch of stories and working on some other cool projects you all might want to check out!**

**For example, I've been doing a collab story with a couple other awesome authors, Nehkles and SarcasmIsOurStrength. They've written a bunch of cool stories that I urge you all to take a look at.**

**The collab story's called _Under Grace_** **and it's much fluffier than _Darkly_ , which makes it a lot of fun to help write. Check it out! You can find it on FF and AO3.**

**Anyway, I'll see you in the next chapter early next year. XP**

**(Before anyone freaks out, that was a joke)**


	21. Pulling Threads

_"Have I missed the mark, or, like true archer, do I strike my quarry?_

_Or am I prophet of lies, a babbler from door to door?"_

\- _(Cassandra. Aeschylus, Agamemnon 1194)._

* * *

The sudden rumbling of the boiler startled Judy, scattering the dark clouds of her thoughts. She shook away the doubts and confusion that had coalesced around her after seeing Nick being led to interrogation and continued her determined stride down the stairs towards Records.

She'd seldom been this far down into the depths of the police department – most of her time had been spent in the upper levels; working out at the gym, filling out paperwork at her desk, or waiting eagerly for her next assignment at the Bullpen. She was keenly aware of the fact that a Lieutenant ought to have been down to records much more than she had – a further testament to the speed (however politically motivated) of her appointment to that role.

The rabbit pushed open the stout oak doors to Records, and took a moment to soak in the sight.

The ZPD Records room was a long corridor, lined with four rows of shelves – double sided – that reached from the top of the room to the floor. Most of these shelves were filled with file boxes, labeled with alphanumeric characters that categorized their contents. The long row of shelves reached into the depths of the building, but near the front of the room lay a small common area on the right, and an L-shaped desk on the left – occupied by a beaver who was typing at a workstation.

Judy's entrance seemed to have gone largely unnoticed by the beaver behind the desk, who stared fixedly at a monitor while reaching blindly for a mug that read "Doesn't Give a Dam." The beaver – who Judy knew was the resident IT head– sipped noisily at the mug before placing it down and continuing type at the keyboard in front of her.

Judy stepped up to the beaver's desk and – after a long moment of silence – coughed to grab her attention.

"Hey LT, sup?" was all the beaver mustered, continuing to stare at the monitor.

"Oh hi there! Uh, I was hoping – er, I mean … how are you doing?" Judy said, summoning every ounce of cheer she had.

The beaver paused in her typing for a moment, "Meh … Overworked as hell. But you're not here for chit chat. What do you need, LT?"

Judy blinked at the beaver's brusqueness, and for a moment the clattering of the keyboard was all the echoed across the room.

"Uh, well … I need to see the incident reports from last night."

"Huh, shoulda' guessed." The beaver said as she typed a final cadence into the keyboard, punctuating its end with a dramatic tap on the enter key. She swiveled in place to reach down to a drawer built into her desk, opened it, and produced a thick folder bound with string.

"Folks have been askin' for this all day. Stopped trying to file it." The beaver said with a wry smile, before reaching down over the top of her desk to hand the folder to Judy.

"Thanks!" Judy said, turning quickly and bounding to the door.

"Hold on, LT!" The beaver called back, stopping Judy in her tracks. "Haven't gotten a chance to enter that into the database, so you've gotta read it down here."

"Oh, sure! Right …"

Judy glanced around, and – pointing at the common room – looked inquisitively at the beaver. The beaver shook her head and smiled, before giving the rabbit a half-hearted thumbs up and returning to typing at her keyboard.

Judy clambered up the leg of a couch in the common room that was clearly designed for much larger mammals, placed the folder on her lap, and began to unwind the string holding it closed. Opening the top, she removed a thick stack of papers from the folder and began to skim through it.

A dozen or so reports from responding officers painted a pretty clear picture of the chaos of the scene at the warehouse the previous night. Most officers had been abruptly called off their current assignments and marshalled to cordon off the warehouse and await the SWAT team. Several officers described confusion as from whom the orders were being given and whether the Chief had been apprised of what was happening. The arrival and execution of the operation by the SWAT team was described as rushed; in particular, Lt. Pennington made it clear in her report that she felt proper protocols were not being followed, calling the Captain's actions "rash" and "foolhardy."

Borov's report was conspicuously vague about the circumstances leading up to the execution of the raid. Leafing through the report, Judy stopped at the clinical description of how Nick and the wolf were subdued:

_Remote Predator Suppression devices were employed until the suspects stopped resisting, at which point they were taken into custody._

Judy winced and looked down at the damning collection of reports in her paws. How could the ZPD be this sloppy? She'd been too caught up in the moment to notice last night, but these reports showed a singularly uncoordinated police force that bore little resemblance to the ZPD Judy was familiar with. It just added to the growing sense of unease in the rabbit's stomach. There was something wrong with this raid.

At last Judy found her own report and paused. While it didn't lack for her usual thoroughness, Judy felt a pang of guilt as she glanced over it. She became keenly aware of the weight of the carrot pen and badge in her pocket, key pieces of evidence she'd neglected to mention. Her paw had found its way into her pocket, and as she felt the contours of the fox's badge.

Judy shook her head – she couldn't afford to get distracted. Her eyes were drawn back to her report before they narrowed in confusion.

"What the …" Judy mumbled, glancing around for any stray sheets of paper that may have fallen out. Finding none, she looked back at the stack in her paws.

Her report was too short – there was no mention of the figure at the window, the blue splatters on the wall, or Nick's story about the 'Night Howlers'. Judy had made a point of detailing those and calling for a forensic analysis. And yet this report had none of it.

The unease in Judy's stomach had blossomed into something akin to dread.

Someone had edited her report.

* * *

Nick scrambled as he was roughly shoved back into the cell, failing to keep his footing. The cell door was shut with a screeching crash, and the deep thrumming of the electric grid suddenly filled the room. Nick moved to stand, before he felt a pair of paws on his arm.

"Easy there, pup." Mike said, helping the fox to his feet.

"Thanks." Nick said, rolling his shoulder and glancing around.

As crowded as before, most of the predators in the cell were staring at the fox and wolf. Mike gestured to the corner of the cell, and the two stepped to the side in an attempt to find some measure of privacy. The low murmur of conversation resumed.

"So, you're not dead. That's good." Mike noted.

"Not so sure about that … but no, not dead." Nick grunted in reply.

"What did they ask you?"

"They wanted me to roll for Koslov. Tried to throw the book at me and scare me into making a plea deal."

Mike's eyes narrowed into a questioning glance. "So … did you?"

Nick scoffed.

"Oh please, I didn't say anything. I'm not stupid."

"Good. If you have any hope of getting out of this in one piece, Koslov is the last mammal we need to piss off."

Nick slumped down the wall into a sitting position and nodded wearily. The wolf joined him, and the two sat in companionable silence.

"Think they made it?" Nick asked, staring blankly at the tile floor in front of him.

"I don't know," Mike sighed. "But your fennec friend seems resourceful, and the pack's been scattered before."

The wolf studied the fox carefully for a moment.

"What's eating you up, Wilde?"

Nick continued to stare blindly. Mike was about to ask again when Nick answered.

"I'm better than this. Zootopia's better than this …"

The fox turned to glance at Mike, anger and sorrow mixed in his eyes.

"At least, that's what I thought. Guess I was wrong, huh?"

 _Guess she was wrong,_ Nick thought.

Mike stared at Nick for a long moment, before bringing a paw to rub at his temples.

"I know how you feel. Trying to figure out if you were betrayed, or did the betraying."

The wolf sighed heavily.

"I wasn't straight with you before – I didn't just want to be a cop … I was one. Before predators started going savage, before the collars."

Nick raised an eyebrow and let Mike continue.

"Course, after everything happened they kicked all us preds off the force. 'Too dangerous' after all."

Mike laughed hollowly.

"All I wanted to do was to help mammals. But look at me now … I'm the leader of a 'criminal gang' with ties to the mob, arrested for assaulting an officer."

The wolf put a paw on the fox's shoulder.

"The world changed, Nick. I had to make a lot of compromises to survive – we all did. But I've never lost sight of what's important: doing the right thing, no matter what the laws say."

Nick shrugged off Mike's paw.

"Well that's the thing. I don't know what the right thing to do is … I don't belong here, Mike."

The fox sighed heavily.

"And now I might never get back."

Mike took a breath to reply when the door to the room opened. Two officers – a rhino and an elephant – led a third figure into the room. The cell door was un-electrified and opened, and when the figure stepped into the cell, the assembled predators seemed to recoil.

At over seven feet tall and clad in a finely tailored black suit, the polar bear cut an imposing figure. The cell was shut behind him as he scanned through the crowd.

At last he spoke, "Tell me. Where is Nikolai?"

* * *

"Nobody delivered a sample!?"

The prairie dog recoiled from the intensity of Judy's question. The two mammals stood just outside the doors to the ZPD's forensics department.

"I'm sorry Lieutenant, but this is the first we've heard of it. Nobody came by with a sample of this … serum you're talking about."

"But I specifically asked for a forensic analysis! And besides, didn't you notice it splattered all over that office?"

"Well … none of our techs found anything at the scene. Plenty of fur samples, but nothing like what you described. "

Judy blinked in disbelief. There was no way they could have missed it - the department wasn't capable of that level of incompetence.

None of this added up – Judy knew what she'd seen, remembered the whoosh of air as the pellets flew past, the fear in the fox's voice.

"Are you alright, Lieutenant?"

Judy blinked and looked back at the lab tech in front of her.

"Oh, sorry – I'm fine. I just, have to look into some things."

The prairie dog nodded and said, "Oh sure. I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help Lieutenant."

Judy turned and slowly made her way back towards her office, her thoughts racing towards the inevitable conclusion.

All record of the serum was missing.

First her report had been edited without her knowledge to excise any reference to the serum. Then she found that the photographs taken of the manager's office didn't show any sign of the blue liquid. And not just the ones in the case file; Judy had tracked down the original images on the very cameras that took them.

Her last ditch effort to find some evidence of the serum was to hope that someone had listened to her the night before and delivered a sample to forensics. Which, evidentially they had not.

There was only one explanation that made any sense to Judy: someone with access to the site and records had tampered with not only the crime scene, but the report that she submitted. Anyone with access to her report would have to outrank her at the least, and very few mammals had access to the manager's office before forensics arrived.

Judy knew she was onto something big, but if her suspicions were true if someone was actively tampering with this investigation and was leaking false information to the press …

If what Nick had said was true, if what she'd heard had been real …

The rabbit shuddered.

There was only one thing to do now.

* * *

**Author's Note:  
**

**So, uh ... how about that 'joke' huh? Pretty funny, right?**

**This chapter was going to be much longer, but I figured it's been so long since I updated I should split this into two parts and release this now.**

**Thank you all for your patience! I promise you all this fic isn't dead.**

**See you all soon!**


	22. Collusion

_"Human beings say, "It never rains but it pours." This is not very apt, for it frequently does rain without pouring. The rabbits' proverb is better expressed. They say, "One cloud feels lonely": and indeed it is true that the sky will soon be overcast."_

_― Richard Adams, Watership Down_

* * *

Lieutenant Pennington stared blindly at the pile of half-finished paperwork on her desk, clearly absorbed in her thoughts. As one hand idly rubbed at the ring concealed in her pocket, Francine reflected on her encounter with the fox.

She hadn't lost her cool like Higgins had, Francine knew she'd messed up. An interrogator was never supposed to lose control of a situation like that, never supposed to cede the upper hand to the suspect. But Wilde had cut through the whole charade in a flash, hitting her where she was most unsuspecting.

The fox knew things he couldn't.

It was impossible. Or, at least Francine couldn't imagine how it was possible for the fox to know about her and Bob. The two officers had been very careful – fraternization between an officer and their superior was explicitly forbidden. If her relationship with Bob was discovered it would at the very least with one or both of them assigned to different precincts, and at the worst could wreck their careers. So Francine and Bob had agreed that they wanted to wait for the right time to make their relationship public, and had kept things professional around the precinct.

But Bob wasn't a very patient mammal. He'd surprised her with the ring on a warm evening under the stars. She'd said yes in an instant, and knew that it was the right answer even as it complicated things.

And somehow the fox knew, which scared the hell out of Francine.

As far as she could tell, Wilde wasn't a violent criminal - just a small time con fox with a rap sheet filled with petty offenses as long as his tail. But he had connections to Koslov's mob, the Tails Gang, and a handful of other organized criminal groups. Dangerous mammals who would love the kind of leverage to blackmail a lieutenant on the ZPD.

So Francine sat at her desk, mulling over her options. As worried as she was, Francine couldn't shake the nagging voice in the back of her head. The voice that kept her up at night as she mulled over cases. The voice that asked, 'why?'

Why had Wilde tipped his hand like that?

Sure, it had spooked Francine enough to get her out of the room, but he hadn't threatened to follow up on it at all. And now that she knew that her secret was anything but safe she could come clean with the chief before this spiraled out of control. In a way, he'd done her a favor.

Francine didn't know what to make of it – too many things were out of place, didn't make sense.

The elephant felt her ear twitch to catch the sound of a flurry of soft knocks that sounded from low on her office door. There was no mistaking who could have produced them. Francine leaned over and turned the handle to her door with her trunk, pulling the door open to let Judy step inside.

"Come on in Hopps," Francine said. "Good to see you up and about after last night."

As the rabbit stepped into her office, Francine could clearly see Judy was preoccupied with something. The elephant cleared off a space on the edge of her desk and gestured for Judy to take a seat. The rabbit thanked her, and leapt onto the desk in a single bound before sitting.

"Thanks Francine," Judy said with forced cheer, "but really I'm fine!"

Francine looked skeptically at the rabbit on her desk for a moment, before trumpeting out a hearty laugh.

"You should never play poker, Hopps."

Judy's ears fell limb behind her back, and she smiled sheepishly.

"That obvious, huh?"

Francine nodded, and leaned in towards Judy.

"So what's going on?"

The rabbit looked down at her lap where she fidgeted her paws.

"I'm not sure," Judy said. "But I have a really bad feeling about the Times case."

"I'm not surprised, you were kind of in the thick of things last night."

Judy shook her head.

"No, that's not what I mean."

The rabbit looked up and glanced from side to side before leaning in.

"I think something is wrong with how the case is being handled. Very wrong."

"Something other than Borov jumping the gun and nearly botching the whole thing?" Francine asked.

"Yes. It just that too many things aren't adding up."

Francine leaned back and crossed her arms.

"You know, I was just thinking the same thing."

Judy's ears shot up.

"Really?"

"Yeah," Francine said. "This whole thing was way too sloppy and rushed. I can't help feeling like something else is going on here."

Judy was quiet for a long moment. Francine could almost hear the gears turning in Judy's head as the rabbit mulled something over.

"Yeah about that …" Judy said at last. "I think someone is tampering with evidence to cover something up."

Francine blinked in surprise.

"Cover what up, exactly?" the elephant asked carefully.

"I'm not one hundred percent sure but …"

Judy paused, before looking Francine in the eyes.

"Why do you think predators go savage?"

"What? How does that-"

Judy held up a paw to interrupt Francine.

"Please, just answer."

Francine furrowed a brow and frowned.

"I … I don't know. Something in their biology maybe? Some gene or something? I don't know. And I really don't understand how this relates to-"

"What if predators don't just go savage on their own? What if there was a drug that made them?"

Francine was momentarily at a loss for words as she considered the implications.

"What if someone was targeting predators on purpose, and making them go savage?" Judy continued. "And what if someone was covering that up?"

"Wait, are you saying-"

"No, I'm not saying anything. Not yet." Judy said, shaking her head.

"Hopps, this is crazy. How did you-"

Francine's eyes widened in sudden realization.

"Something happened last night when you were in the warehouse, didn't it?"

Judy nodded.

"Before the raid, Wilde caught me in the manager's office. I was going to arrest him but then he showed me something … impossible."

"Impossible?"

_As impossible as knowing about her and Bob?_ Francine wondered.

"Yeah, but that's not all …"

Francine listened as Judy told her about the figure who had tried to shoot Nick with the pellets. How Nick had reacted to seeing the blue liquid dripping down the walls. And how any evidence relating to the substance had been removed from the case file.

Judy drew in a breath to continue, but let it out in a sudden sigh.

"I don't know, this all sounds insane doesn't it?" Judy asked.

"Hell yeah it does." Francine said and shook her head.

The two mammals were silent for a minute before Judy spoke.

"Look, I need a favor Francine. I need to talk to Wilde – off the record. I have to be sure I believe him before I take this to Bogo. I understand this is a lot to ask, and I won't blame you if you say no."

Francine was silent for several moments, weighing everything she'd heard.

Finally, the elephant took a deep breath, straightened up and said, "Ok. I'll do it."

* * *

In an instant, the eyes of every predator in the cell turned from the towering polar bear to stare at the fox and the wolf in the corner.

Nick swallowed heavily and got to his feet.

"Raymond, buddy! Is that you?"

The polar bear fixed his gaze on Nick, eyes narrowing in clear irritation.

"Da. And I am not in a good mood." The bear growled in a deep baritone.

Nick gave a nervous chuckle and noticed Mike tensing next to him.

Raymond glanced back at the crowd of mammals staring at the exchange.

"We will need the corner. Make room."

Nick would have found the sight of a half dozen hardened mammals scrambling over one another to get out of the polar bear's way amusing if the bear were not advancing on him.

Raymond glowered over the fox and the wolf.

"Nikolai. Koslov wishes for you to know that your friends are safe under his protection. He wishes to extend his apologies that he could not have done more to have prevented this. And he wishes for you to know he extends his protection to you."

Nick let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding in.

"Wait, really?"

"He has a soft spot for you fox, why I do not understand."

"You wound me, Raymond! Nobody can resist my natural charisma."

The polar bear eyes narrowed into a steel-piercing glare.

"It is because of your 'natural charisma' that I get to spend a night in this hole."

"Ah, yeah … sorry about that." Nick apologized.

"I do this for Koslov, not you. But let this remind you of the great lengths Koslov will go to in order to help those he considers family." Raymond rumbled. "And of course, you already know what lengths Koslov will use to deal with those who betray his trust."

Nick felt a chill race down his spine.

"Right, gotcha. Loud and clear." Nick said, smiling sheepishly and giving the bear a thumbs up.

Raymond rolled his eyes.

"Good. Now leave me be. I do not wish to speak with you further."

The massive bear turned and lumbered to the far wall, displacing several mammals before leaning against the wall.

The hush that had fallen over the mammals in the cell began to recede, conversation resuming now that the spectacle was over.

Mike and Nick shared a relieved glance.

"So, what now slick?" the wolf asked.

Nick shrugged.

"I guess we wait and see."

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Sorry for the short chapter, but I wanted to get this out there sooner rather than later.**


	23. Bargaining

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "The one where Bummer actually updates for once." - Nehkles

_Alice laughed. "There's no use trying," she said: "one can't believe impossible things."_

_"I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."_

_\- Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There_

* * *

The warehouse door made a deep, metallic, shrieking groan as Nick slid it across the concrete floor. It took the entirety of his weight to move the heavy metal door, the fox leaning into the wall and pushing with both paws. With a final grunt of exertion, Nick shoved the door wide and looked inside.

The interior was dark, dimly lit by the ambient light of the city around them that filtered through cracks and the small windows that ringed the top of the walls. The greatest source of light came from behind Nick as the wolf shined a flashlight around the warehouse floor. The beam arced across the empty floor, illuminating puddles of rainwater that had collected in dips in the floor, shining off the empty liquor bottles and cigarette butts left there by whatever group of teenagers had snuck in to indulge themselves.

But mostly the light revealed an empty warehouse.

No Roar-A-Coaster, no Cheetah Chase, no Ball-O-Yarn-Pit. None of the rides and attraction he, Finnick, Clawhauser, and Honey had slaved over for months. The work they'd risked a loan from Koslov and all the strings that came with for.

Nothing, just a void.

A deep dread had grown in Nick's chest since he'd left his father's tailory. He'd only kept it at bay with the vain hope that despite what he'd seen that maybe, just maybe the Times would still be there. That maybe there was something familiar he could anchor himself to.

But now, faced with the indisputable truth in front of his eyes, the dread washed over him.

Nick didn't feel angry; he didn't feel sorrow, and he didn't feel fear.

He felt  _alone_.

Nick stood in the doorway for a long time before the wolf spoke up behind him.

"I, uh, take it this wasn't what you were hoping to find."

Nick looked back at the wolf and said, "No. Not what I was hoping to find, but exactly what I expected."

The wolf raised an eyebrow but didn't press the fox for an explanation.

"You can take a minute if you need it."

Nick shook his head.

"No, there's nothing here. Let's go."

The two canines turned and started to walk to the wolf's parked sedan.

"So, what's the plan?" Nick asked.

The wolf shrugged and said, "For tonight? I'll give you a lift home. Tomorrow I figure we'll head to Cliffside. But whatever we do, we'll have to rope your partner into it. Doubt we could keep her out of it if we tried."

Nick gave a small smile at the thought of the rabbit. She was a spitfire, that was for certain. And it still surprised him at how much she seemed to genuinely care about him. The Hopps he'd known had been a lot less warm.

"Whatever you say, boss."

* * *

Nick made no effort to engage the wolf in conversation on the ride through the city. And thankfully, the wolf seemed to be happy to drive in silence.

Nick looked out the passenger window at the lights of the skyline that began to draw closer as they approached it from the freeway. It all looked the same as he remembered; the streets bathed in amber light from the streetlamps above, a constellation of lights shining from the thousands of windows in the high rises of the city center.

It should have been a comfort, something familiar. But it just added to the growing certainty in the fox's mind.

Nick didn't belong here.

The wolf pulled off the freeway taking the exit towards Sahara Square, towards the apartment he'd woken up in the day before. It felt like a lifetime ago, but he knew it hadn't even been 24 hours since this all had started.

"This the right way?" The wolf asked, breaking the silence.

Nick glanced around to get his bearings. They were just across the street from where Nick had first encountered the wolf.

"Uh, yeah I guess … I mean, I've only been there once," he said shrugging. Gesturing up the road Nick said, "Yeah, just up there around the corner."

The wolf nodded and pulled up to the corner bringing the car around to stop in front of an apartment building. Nick didn't recognize the building, but considering how quickly he'd fled from the apartment the previous morning he would have been more surprised if he had.

But he  _did_  recognize the rusty orange van that was also pulled up in front of the building. The back doors of the van were open, and Nick could just make out the feet of a small form sitting on the edge.

"Finnick?" Nick wondered out loud.

The wolf followed Nick's gaze. "Friend of yours?"

"Yeah, something like that," Nick said and reached for the handle of the sedan, stepping into the warm night.

As Nick around to the back of the van, he saw a flicker of red and yellow light that briefly illuminated Finnick that was quickly followed by a dark cloud of smoke.

"You know those'll kill you."

Finnick jumped in his seat before reaching out for a nearby baseball bat. As the fennec wheeled on Nick and readied his bat he snarled, "Who the hell asked you?"

Nick was about to duck the incoming strike from the fennec's bat when recognition dawned on the smaller fox.

"Nick, you asshole," Finnick growled as he lowered his bat. "Sneaking out of a hospital in the dead of night. The fuck have you been doing?"

Nick shrugged, "This and that. Why do you care?"

Finnick scoffed, "I couldn't give a shit. But your girlfriend does."

Nick blinked incredulously for a moment. "My  _what_?"

The smaller fox rolled his eyes. "The rabbit. There I was trying to get my beauty sleep when she comes banging on my door saying you'd gone missing or some shit. Wouldn't take no for an answer, so there I was driving her all over the freakin' city looking for your scrawny ass."

Finnick took a long draw on his cigarette before pointing forcefully at Nick, "So  _you_  owe me for gas."

"She's not my … whatever." Nick groaned, glancing around. "Just, look - where is Hopps now?"

"Upstairs tossing your apartment, last I saw."

"What!? You let her in?"

"Hell no! Not my fault you gave her a key."

While Nick groaned Finnick looked past him and asked, "So who's your tail?"

Nick turned around to see the wolf waiting a respectful distance away.

"It's a long story," the red fox said sheepishly.

Finnick studied Nick for a moment and flicked the ash off the end of his cigarette.

"Look kit. You ain't been yourself all day. I dunno what the hell's gotten into you, but look – don't be a dumbass. Go talk to your bunny, she'll get you sorted."

Finnick spoke with authority, eyebrows raised, his tone daring Nick to argue. Nick held up both paws in a conciliatory gesture.

"Alright sure, fine. Whatever you say."

The fennec took a final draw and crushed out his cigarette in an ashtray on his right.

"Good. And for the record, if I get woken up at one in the morning to find your sorry ass  _again_ , I'm going to be  **pissed**. Now fuck off, I'm going to bed."

With that, Finnick stood and unceremoniously slammed shut the back doors to his van.

Nick felt a half-smile stretch across his face. At least this Finnick was pretty much the same as the one he'd known; brusque, gruff, and blustery, but loyal to a fault. Nick was touched that Finnick had gone to the trouble of helping Hopps. While he could feasibly chalk that up to the forcefulness of the rabbit, Nick knew Finnick had his back.

Or rather, the other Nick's back. And again, a wave of loneliness washed over him, sending a shiver from the base of his tail up his spine.

Turning, Nick walked back to the front of the apartment to where the wolf stood pretending (rather unconvincingly) to be engrossed in his phone.

"Shall we?" Nick asked and gestured up towards the building in front of the two mammals. The wolf pocketed the phone and nodded, and the two mammals made their way into the building.

* * *

Climbing a couple flights of stairs, Nick quickly found his way back to the apartment where he'd first begun his journey through this strange version of the world. The door was ajar, a beam of light knifing into the dark hallway outside. The fox could clear hear the sound of someone rummaging doors inside the apartment.

The wolf looked at Nick eyebrow raised in confusion, but before Nick could explain they both heard a frustrated voice from inside growl in frustration.

"Oh Frith and Inlé! Where did you go, Nick?"

Nick stepped to the door and pushed it open. The apartment was more or less how he remembered it, save for the rabbit rummaging through the doors of a desk and file cabinet. Papers were scattered all over as the rabbit withdrew an envelope and began to quickly rifle through the stack of papers she found within, completely oblivious to the two mammals standing in the doorway.

"Just make yourself at home, officer," Nick called out with a wry smirk.

Judy's ears shot up almost before he'd made a sound, swiveling instantly to face Nick. The rest of her body followed suit as the rabbit shot to her feet, her gaze darting around the doorway before locking on Nick.

In a gray streak, Judy bolted at Nick, leaving papers swirling in her wake.

" _Nick_!"

Hopps slammed into Nick's chest at full force, nearly taking him off his feet and all but knocking the wind out of him. It took Nick a full second to recover, but when he had he felt Judy hugging him tightly.

"Oh thank god, I thought you were really hurt!" she mumbled into his chest, relief soaked into every syllable.

Nick was at a loss for a moment. He was not used to this kind of physical affection. Gathering his wits, Nick awkwardly patted at the back of Judy's shoulder.

"I .. I'm okay."

His voice broke whatever spell had magnetized the rabbit to him, and she suddenly released him and pushed him back. The look of relief had vanished, replaced with anger.

"What the hell were you doing!? I was looking all over for you Nick!"

Nick blinked in confusion at the sudden shift in Judy's tone. Something in it compelled Nick to tell the truth.

"I just couldn't stay there, not in a hospital. I had … I had to be sure."

"Sure of what Nick? What could you have  _possibly_  needed to be sure about? And why would it mean you had to break out of Zootopia General by leaping from a window for Frith's sake?"

The wolf coughed from the doorway, tearing Judy's gaze away from Nick.

"Who the heck are you, huh?" the rabbit growled at the wolf easily four times her size.

"Hopps, no he's-"

Hopps advanced towards the wolf pointing an accusatory finger.

"I swear, if you've done something to my partner I will throw you in jail so fast your shadow will have to post bail for you."

The wolf blinked in surprise before a big grin spread across his muzzle.

"Ha! Bogo warned me you were a livewire!" the wolf said with a laugh.

He bent down and extended a paw to Judy.

"Relax Hopps, I'm Mike Fangmeyer. You work with my nephew."

Judy's ears fell flat against her back in embarrassment as she quickly shook the wolf's paw.

"Oh, Captain! I'm so sorry, I just didn't recognize you."

"It's fine, I'm retired Hopps. Bogo asked me to keep an eye on Nick, so I gave him a lift home," the wolf explained.

"Oh, well … thank you! I'm sorry I-" Judy stammered

"Don't be. You were looking after your partner," the wolf interjected, looking between Nick and Judy.

"Speaking of," the wolf continued. "You mind keeping an eye on him for the evening? I'd like to get some sleep before the three of us go to Cliffside tomorrow."

"Sure, but … Cliffside?" Judy asked, bewildered.

Fangmeyer nodded. "We've got a mystery nearly thirty years in the making to solve."

The wolf righted himself and stepped out into the hallway.

"Wilde, do everyone a favor and don't run off again," Mike said.

"Yeah, sure thing," Nick said, glancing at the determined bunny to his side. "Doubt I could get far even if I tried."

Fangmeyer chuckled from the door.

"Alright, well … have a good night then. I'll see you two tomorrow," he said, closing the door to the apartment.

For a moment, the fox and rabbit listened to the fading footsteps of the wolf.

At last, Nick turned to face Judy. Her ears were down, paws fidgeting nervously, and concern etched into every feature of her face.

"I was so scared Nick. I don't know what I would do if something happened to you."

Nick took a deep breath and exhaled.

"I'm sorry Hopps, I just needed to be certain."

"Certain of what?"

Nick frowned, trying to gather his thoughts. He gestured to the nearby couch and sat. Judy followed suit, hopping up to sit close to the fox.

"I had to know, to really believe that this wasn't my world," Nick said after a long pause. "I don't belong here, Hopps."

"Nick, that's nonsense! You worked so hard to-" Judy began.

"No!" Nick snapped more forcefully than he'd intended, but to her credit Judy didn't flinch.

"That was someone else," He continued. "Some other Nick."

The fox pointed at the row of framed pictures over the mantle.

"That's not me, Hopps. I'm not a cop, I'm a two-bit con fox who wanted to open a theme park. I don't have an apartment like this, I sleep in a drawer under a leaky pipe. I never helped save the city, and I was never your partner. Hell, you gave me a parking ticket!"

Nick swallowed thickly.

"I was never a ranger scout, and my mother died years before  **that** picture could possibly have been taken."

Judy was staring at Nick apprehensively, but was clearly listening intently as the fox spoke.

"That's why I left, Hopps. I had to see if anything I remembered,  _anything_ I worked for was there or not. If any of the world I remembered was still there."

"Was it?" Judy asked quietly.

Nick sighed heavily and looked at his paws.

"No."

Judy brought a comforting paw to Nick's shoulder. The fox glanced at it but made no move to break away.

After a moment passed in silence Nick said, "You know, I still don't know who this Nick guy you're talking about is. He sure as hell ain't me."

Nick smiled softly and looked up at Judy.

"But he's lucky to have someone like you to look after him."

Judy returned the smile.

"You're my …" The rabbit paused, before continuing, "He's my best friend."

The fox nodded, and the two mammals again sat in silence for sometime.

"You mean a lot to him," Nick said after a time.

Judy cocked her head. "If you're not him, how would you know?"

Nick stood and walked over to the mantle and picked up the framed picture of Judy and the other Nick at what must have been an academy graduation. He traced a finger over where the other fox's gleaming badge read 'Wilde.'

"I don't have any pictures. Not a one," Nick explained. "I don't have anything I want to remember. Just regrets and bad memories."

Nick put the picture back on the mantle.

"He has four, Hopps. And you're in all but  _one_. "

The fox turned to look back at Judy.

" _That_ is how I know you're important to him."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rumors of my demise were greatly exaggerated. Special thanks to Nehkles and SarcasmIsOurStrength for editing this (even though Nehkles hates collar stories.)


End file.
